The article under consideration Thousands of Birds Found Dead along Alaskan Shoreline is written by Seth Kovar and Steve Almasy. It addresses the relevant issue, namely the death of the birds in Alaska because of starvation. However, it should be highlighted that the primary reason is somewhere deeper. The major purpose of the paper is to evaluate the presented information in a critical way and to stress the significance of the problem.
David Irons found hundreds of dead birds on the shore. The seabird biologist explains it with the warm temperature of water in the ocean. According to the expert, the environment is affected to the degree when the ecosystem reflects the negative influence through climate changes. Because of the abnormally warm water in the ocean, the fish that the common murres eat disappeared that consequently lead to the emaciating of the birds.
The authors of the article note that the average temperature of water increased by almost seven degrees. As the matter of fact, even small temperature swings have dramatic consequences for the ecosystem. David Irons makes an accent that “seabird biologists say seabirds are indicators of the health of the ecosystem. Now they’re dying, and that is telling us something. We should be aware of that. If we don’t record they’re dying it goes unnoticed” (Kovar & Almasy, 2016). Global environmental changes affect every element of the surroundings. Taking into consideration the birds, it should be stated that environmental changes affect breeding and behaviour (Moller, Fiedler, & Berthold, 2010). Industry, fossil fuels, air, water, and soil pollution are the fundamental factors that affect the atmosphere causing ozone layer depletion, climate change, and intensity of the natural phenomena.
The increase of the water temperature even for a couple of degrees affects both, fish and common murres. Despite the fact that scientists believe the losses of birds are insignificant for their population, it can be argued. David Irons’ discovery on the shore is not the single example of the birds’ death because of starvation. According to the data, similar situations occurred in 1993, 1997, and 1989, the total amount of dead birds was almost 500,000 murres. The researchers suppose that the primary culprit is environmental changes. However, the deeper involvement in the issue will discover that humanity is responsible for the death of the birds. Evolution of the technical progress resulted in severe consequences, and the problem with the common murres is only the first signs.
The peculiarity of the case is the quantity of the dead birds and area. Common murres should have the opportunity to get back to the ocean. Being on land is not typical for that kind of birds. The only solution is to develop the mitigation and adaptation strategies to reduce the negative impact on the environment. The National Wildlife Health Centre reported that death of animals was not the result of the disease or toxic chemicals. However, scientists claim that such cases are not accidental as they repeated through the year. El Nino will negatively impact the common murres.
The researchers try to investigate whether the population of murres is under the risk. The recent statistics proves that the die-offs have increased in comparison to 1940 (Gorman, 2016). The experts note that “understanding both the cause and consequences of animal die-offs is critically important” (Gorman, 2016). The first aspect to take into consideration is the discovering of the diseases and influence of the toxic chemicals and the second one is climate change and El Nino. Although the researchers seem to be an essential part of tackling the problem, it should be stressed that nowadays nothing can be done to prevent the death of the common murres as it is connected to environmental changes. People influenced the surrounding for centuries, and the situation cannot be changed overnight. The issue demands responsible attitude towards nature. The innovation of the technologies that will remove the pollution seems to be also essential to deal with the problem. As the matter of fact, scientist now should pay attention towards further research and in the case of facing the abnormal behavior caused by chemical or disease, be ready to respond appropriately.
In conclusion, it should be pointed out that the issue regarding the death of the common murres should not be undervalued, and certain actions to prevent such cases should be taken. The primary reason for the death of the birds is considered to be starvation. However, the primary cause is deeper. The harmful human activity, extensive usage of cars, fossil fuels, smog, water, soil, and air pollution influenced the environment and consequently led to the climate change. Therefore, the fundamental issue is the human interference in nature. Seabirds show the immediate reaction and prove that the ecosystem is affected in a negative way. It should be highlighted that to eliminate adverse consequences people should protect the environment and change the focus towards the development of the strategies and approaches that will save the surrounding and protect the common murres from vanishing.
References
Gorman, J. (2016). Animals Die in Large Numbers, and Researchers Scratch Their Heads. Web.
Kovar, S., & Almasy, S. (2016). Thousands of birds found dead along Alaskan shoreline. Web.
Moller, A., Fiedler, W., & Berthold, P. (2010). Effects of climate change on birds. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.