Warming Risks Antarctic Sea Life
By Wendy Heller, February 16, 2008 @ 02:00 AM (EST)
Source: Bbc.co.uk
Crabs are poised to return to the Antarctic shallows, threatening creatures such as giant sea spiders and floppy ribbon worms, says a UK-US team.
Some have evolved without predators for tens of millions of years.
Bony fish and sharks would move in if waters warm further, threatening species with extinction, they say.
In the last 50 years, sea surface temperatures around Antarctica have risen by 1 to 2C, which is more than twice the global average.
Loss of species
Speaking in Boston at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the researchers said global warming could fundamentally change the ecosystem, leading to the loss of some species.
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