 |
| http://www.picture-newsletter.com/corals/coral-22.jpg |
The article “Reef Fish Find It’s Too Hot to Swim” was posted
on ScienceDaily on November 27, 2013. The author of this article was not
listed. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/11/131127110613.htm
We've all experienced those scorching summer days that make
us want to lay on the couch all day. It seems that humans are not the only
creatures with this reaction to high temperatures. This article describes the
results that researcher Dr. Jacob Johansen collected regarding large reef fish
and the change in their behavior due to ocean warming.
Johansen stated, “Global warming is reducing the swimming
ability of most fish.” This means that, due to the warmer climate, fish are
choosing to swim less. Fish rely on
swimming to survive in the aspects of hunting and finding mates. If aquatic
animals continue to decline in their amount of swimming, it could be a serious
threat to the environment of coral reefs. Johansen described the fish’s
behavior as “lethargic”. There’s a lot less swimming taking place, and the
little amount of swimming that takes place is executed at a much slower rate.
Because fish are swimming slower and within smaller ranges
this threatens the future distribution of species. If the fish only allow themselves
to swim at a certain rate for a limited amount of time, they can’t get very
far. This causes certain species to clump up in certain areas so that they can
reproduce easily without having to swim long distances.
Professor Morgan Pratchett said the decline of swimming "may
directly influence where we will find these species in the future and how many
we are able to fish sustainably." I’m predicting this to be a problem
because the human race has proven itself to be very good at cutting back on
destructive behavior.
I think that this article shows a terrible truth to global
warming. We will try to adapt to the drastic change in temperature, but that
doesn’t mean other species will be as accepting to the change. If we continue
on effecting the environment as we are now, there are unlimited aspects of life
that will be negatively affected.
Who would have guessed that fish, who live
their lives in bodies of water, would suffer from the rising temperature.
The article finishes with a list of doctors experimenting to
see if the fish will be able to eventually adapt to the new temperatures, or if
they’ll have to move the fish to cooler waters. This will be a temporary fix
that brings up this question: what happens when we run out of cooler waters?
Lizzie-
ReplyDeleteYour blog post did an excellent job of raising awareness to an issue which is seldom addressed by the public to be a major one. Your tone was very consistent throughout your piece, with an air of ominousness that raised concern for the outcome of our actions. I appreciated the way you thoroughly described each detail required to understand what the issue is with the increase of water temperature and decrease of fish liveliness. You also inserted several good personal thoughts which made your writing interesting and easy to follow. I do not have any suggestions for future writing pieces other than continue to connect your thoughts in your writing as well as you did this time. Really great job!
-Travis Giragosian
Great Job Lizzie! I had no idea that global warming is reducing the swimming ability of fish. Thanks for bringing the topic to the classes attention. It was a very interesting topic and I agree that many people don't know what global warming is really doing. My only suggestion would be to have more of conversational tone. Thanks for posting!
ReplyDeleteThis was a great blog. The voice throughout was wonderfulll and made me believe the author was interested in the topic and cared about it. Most people would make this topic boring but you made it very informative and fun to read. There was not a lot of stuff linking back to biology class but all in all it was a great writing.
ReplyDeleteAn excellent blog post! I find your topic very interesting, because we often overlook some animals being affected by global warmer. When many people think of global they think of polar bears losing their ice and human cities being flooded. But we rarely think of the water dwelling fish being in danger. It is the animals that are overlooked that may be in the direst situations. The tone of your blog post was serious and informative. The article also mentioned that a decline in fish population could negatively affect coral reefs. This connects back to our studies of the fragility of vernal pool ecosystems. Like the delicate vernal pool life, removing just one species could prove disastrous. A very good blog post indeed.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteReally great job! This blog was very enjoyable to read. It was very interesting to hear about a topic that I did not know about. You very effectively educated everyone on this matter. As I scrolled through the blogs your tittle caught my eye. It was very interesting and it really made me want to read on to find out more about this topic. I enjoyed every aspect of your blog but two things really stood out to me. Your very first and last statements are very well crafted and effectively start of the blog and finish it of. You start of by describing a feeling that everyone has experienced: that sluggish feeling you get it the heart of summer. This caught my attention because I could definitely connect to this feeling and it got me very interested in how this feeling connects to a biology matter. Your last sentence was also very good. You ended with a question and it keeps the thoughts flowing even after you finish reading the blog. This is a very well written blog. Great work!
ReplyDeleteI have never thought about global climate change affecting fish and coral reefs. I thought you did a really good job responding to this article. Because of our combustion of fossil fuels and deforestation, we are causing innocent animals like fishes to decrease their normal activity. I thought this was a very interesting article to pick because the slow moving fish is threatening the future distribution of sea creatures. I agree with you Lizzie, if we continue polluting our World at the rate we are going right now, what we have and know now may not exist in in a few decades.
ReplyDeleteGreat job! This was a very interesting topic to read about.I did not know that the climate could affect fish in a negative way. I also never thought that our climate affected any animals at all. Your blog was very well written and you explained in detail about your article. Your title and picture made me want to read your blog! Overall good job.
ReplyDeleteLizzie, you did a really good job with explaining how global climate change can affect the way fish react in certain bodies of water. It's really interesting to think that sea creatures could possibly react to different temperatures the same way humans do. I thought the quote you added about where these species will end up due to the climate was really interesting. It made me think about how badly it could turn out if the fish needed to move to cooler climates because it would make for less creature for fishermen to fish. Overall, great job!
ReplyDeleteI found this article very interesting because I didn't now fish can be lazy as us sometimes. I also find it worrying that some fish species will not be distributed in even amounts and can just stay in one little area. I feel bad for the fisherman because they might rely on the fish to survive and they might not be in the area that they are fishing in.
ReplyDeleteThis topic was very surprsing to me! i had no idea that fish could have a similar lazy reaction as humans to global temperature rise. Global warming seems to be a serious problem but i had no idea how much it affected aquatic life and distrobution. You did a very good job explaining this topic, and i could tell it was one you were interested in. I thought that you brought up a good point regarding whether or not these aquatic species would become adapted to these rising temperatures. overall, your article was extremely well written and very informative. Great job!
ReplyDeleteGreat job with this blog Lizzie! I think it was great that you were able to relate this to our very recent study of the carbon cycle and how carbon emissions are causing the greenhouse affect which leads to global warming. I think it was very interesting how we could relate to the behaviors of the fish because we too feel sluggish when it is hot out. I agree with you that this shows the “terrible truth” about global warming, and I think that this should be a wakeup call to us because it shows how we are harming other species with global warming. One question I still have is: how many bodies of water is this sluggish behavior of fish occurring in? Is it only occurring in a few, or are there many bodies of water in which this is happening?
ReplyDeleteFantastic work! I was really taken aback by what I learned here.I had no idea this was going on! This information is especially startling because we can relate to it. We all know that feeling on a hot day that makes us want to absolutely nothing. It's a feeling no one enjoys. To think these poor fish are experiencing this constantly where they live is unbelievable. It humanizes the fish; we can sympathize with them. Being able to feel for the fish really makes me more passionate about wanting to help them. Thanks for bringing this subject to light.
ReplyDeleteThat was an awesome blog post! I found the information you shared extremely interesting. I didn't know that fish also felt sluggish on warm days. The thought of the fish clumped up in malnourished areas disturbs me. The way you presented the information was fantastic. After reading this post has made me think about how human activities can destroy ecosystems. Overall, this blog post was intesting and well written
ReplyDelete