We already know that the rise in global temperatures - thanks to climate change - is melting sea ice. We also know this is raising global sea levels, which could be catastrophic. What you may not know though, is that this is also causing the spread of a deadly marine virus.
Reuters
Phocine distemper virus (PDV) has been common in the northern Atlantic ocean for decades. It was first identified in 1988 after it caused the deaths of over 18,000 seals along the northern European coast.
The thing is, it has been, so far, mostly restricted to the northern Atlantic region. But thanks to the melting sea ice in the Arctic over the last few years, marine mammals that live in and around the Pacific ocean have been able to traverse between the two regions. That means new species that haven't evolved to develop an immunity or resistance to this virus, are now being exposed.
Researchers from the University of California, Davis, conducted a 15-year-long study, tracking animals via satellite across the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. They say they found PDV - which can be fatal to some species - to be the most common in years when the Arctic ice melt was highest.?
Reuters
According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), Arctic sea ice declined 12.8 percent on average each decade, between 1979 and 2018. "These sea ice changes in September are likely unprecedented for at least 1,000 years," the IPCC said in a report published in September.
The Davis researchers found the worst spike in PDV among marine mammals in the Pacific was in 2003 and 2004, and that links to the record-breaking Arctic ice melt we saw in August of 2002. PDV spiked again later in 2009, once more just a year after widespread ice melt in 2008.
"The loss of sea ice is leading marine wildlife to seek and forage in new habitats and removing that physical barrier, allowing for new pathways for them to move," one of the study's authors Dr Tracey Goldstein, told the BBC. "As animals move and come in contact with other species, they carry opportunities to introduce and transmit new infectious disease, with potentially devastating impacts."
Symptoms of PDV involve laboured breathing, fevers and erratic behaviour of the nervous system. Young seals affected by this tend to exhibit depression, anorexia, conjunctivitis, and struggle to catch their breath. With mammals, being exposed for the first time is often fatal. And now, the virus is also spreading to otters and dolphins, as well as new seal populations.
Reuters
If you can imagine what it's like to see your pet dog struggle to catch its breath, it's not very far from what would happen to a seal. And that should be reason enough to understand, that we need to make drastic changes in order to not worsen an already disappointing situation.