This article explains that a tilt in the food and temperature in the deep sea is affecting the creatures that live there such as snails and clams. The deep sea is the most far off ecosystem on Earth. Scientist’s studies have shown, ”That the deep sea, once thought remote and buffered against climatic change, may function quite differently in the future,” they write. If global warming and extreme climate changes continue to occur it will have a powerful affect on the deep sea in the future. As commonly known, all organisms need energy to live. This energy comes from food, light, and heat. However, all areas beneath the ocean surface lack in light and heat. Without light, photosynthesis is impossible and there are no plants for the animals to eat in the deep sea. Residents are forced to survive off of dead and decaying matter. Co-author Craig McClain of the National Evolutionary Synthesis Center in Durham, North Carolina asks the big question, “How much of the differences that we see across different groups of deep-sea animals in terms of growth, or lifespan, or the number of species, are related to differences in the temperature or amount of food where they occur?” Through extensive research scientist McClain and Michael Rex found, “Changes in temperature and food availability associated with climate change could cause widespread extinction in the deep ocean if environmental changes occur faster than deep-sea organisms can respond by shifting their ranges or adapting to new conditions.” In conclusion, if we do not make a huge effort to stop global warming we will kill off deep-sea organisms.
Suffield Academy Environmental Science 