JULY 11,
2019
Rising
temperatures could mean no male loggerhead turtles hatch at a key breeding
ground by the end of this century, new research suggests.
The
University of Exeter study also warns that—by 2100—more than 90% of loggerhead
nests on the Cape Verde islands could incubate at "lethally high temperatures,"
killing turtles before
they hatch.
The sex of
turtle hatchlings is determined by incubation temperature, and this study combined current temperature
and hatchling data with projections from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
Change (IPCC).
Even under
a scenario based on low future emissions and
warming, by 2100 just 0.14% of hatchlings would be male.
Under mid
and high-emissions scenarios, hatching of male loggerheads could cease
entirely.
"Cape
Verde hosts one of the largest nesting population of loggerhead turtles in the
world—up to 15% of the global nesting total," said Dr. Lucy Hawkes, of the
University of Exeter.
"We
estimate that 84% of current hatchlings are female, and warmer temperatures
will increase this proportion.
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