ArabiaWeather - It seems that the effects of climate change have become clear on animals and plants, as many studies over the past years have shown that climate warming has led to a shortage of male turtles in several regions of the world, from the coast of Florida to the Barrier Reef in Australia, and the effects have reached Yemen.
In 2018, American researchers revealed that green turtles north of the Great Barrier, numbering 200,000, most of them female, threaten this species, which is considered globally important, according to Agence France-Presse.
The effects have reached Yemen, where sea turtles are now threatened with extinction due to a shortage of males due to the effects of climate change.
This turtle takes advantage of the calm at night to head towards the sandy beaches in southern Yemen and lay its eggs there, which are often “females” due to climate warming. According to one of the volunteers to protect sea turtles, he said: “In recent years, most baby turtles are females due to rising temperatures.”
He pointed out that the decline in temperatures and the approach of autumn leads to the presence of a mixture of males and females among young turtles, and that global climate change and the continuation of extreme heat for longer periods each year increases the phenomenon of the decline in the number of males.
In addition, “a lot of males have been dying on the beaches recently,” although their number is small and has decreased significantly over time.
Jamal Bawazir, head of the Biodiversity Department at the Center for Environmental Studies and Sciences at the University of Aden, which is one of the largest cities in the south and the headquarters of the interim government of Yemen, points out that studies conducted in many coastal areas confirmed that the percentage of females compared to males is more than 90%.
He warns that the decline in the proportion of males in general poses a threat to the extinction of sea turtles in the coming years.
He calls on the authorities to take urgent measures and proposes in particular the formation of a specialized technical team to monitor turtles in nesting areas, collect eggs and place them in suitable sand nurseries with the aim of increasing the number of males.
International experts also suggest the idea of placing types of umbrellas on the beaches that turtles choose to build their nests, with the aim of providing suitable temperatures for the eggs. However, Jamal Bawazir points out that implementing such operations is considered very difficult in the current circumstances.
It should be noted that temperatures during the incubation period of eggs determine the sex of turtles, as males are formed in a colder climate than that needed by females to form.
Sources: alarabiya
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