We do not know exactly the death toll caused by the heat wave which took place in June in the western United States and Canada. However, the estimates of excess mortality suggest that they may have been hundreds of people. It is not for less, because in some points they reached 50ºC. But not only humans were affected. It is logical to think that this phenomenon could also have lethal consequences for other living beings, although it will take time to know the extent that it has had in this regard. If we ever get to know it at all, because the findings are being produced with a dropper. The latest to be reported has been the shocking discovery of thousands of dead marine animals, after being boiled alive.
The discoverer of this terrible event has been the marine biologist Chris Harley, who has explained how everything happened in statements to the CBC Canadian.
Apparently, last Sunday he was in the Kitsilano beach, from Vancouver, when a strong, unpleasant odor caught his eye. Followed by his nose, he reached the place where the remains of thousands of clams, mussels, starfish and snails. Their bodies were boiledBut they hadn’t been through any kitchen. These marine animals died from the heat wave.
An unprecedented heat wave
The climate change It has been the main instigator of this heat wave, which already has aftershocks in many other parts of the world.
The highest recorded temperature was taken in British Columbia on June 29, when the mercury reached the 49.6 ° C. Therefore, it is estimated that on the Vancouver coast the 50 ° C.
As explained by Harley in the interview about the dead animals he found, these species they do not support more than 30ºC. Therefore, by staying for a long time at 20ºC above what they are capable of holding, they ended up dying boiled.
Billions of dead marine animals
In the same way that it is not possible to know how many humans died from the heat wave, Harley explains that he also does not know how much the number of dead marine animals is.
However, based on population records for this area of Canada, he estimates that they could be thousands of millions.
This is terrible news, both for the loss of all these animal lives and for the consequences it will have for him. ecosystem. On the one hand, due to the loss of biodiversity. On the other, because of how it will affect water quality. And is that some of the dead marine animals, such as clams and mussels, are filter species. This means that, since they are not at sea, they cannot contribute to clean up that water.
This is one of the catastrophic consequences of the heat wave. Unfortunately, surely we have many more to see. The climate change he does not forgive and this is all a good example of it.