Ocean Warming: A Call to End the Climate Crisis, Part 2 of 3

In today’s program, we’ll discover how ocean warming is also adversely affecting marine life. One serious threat is the occurrence of marine heatwaves. “When marine heatwaves occur, they affect the biology (of the ocean) in a range of ways. Species change the location in the way where they live, and so for example, in Western Australia, many unusual species were pushed further south by the warm water; the warm water also killed habitats, and the bottom panel on the left illustrates a before-and-after picture associated with the marine heatwave event. And similarly on the right-hand side, examples of what happens to marine habitats.

In cooler water, when hit by marine heatwaves, you see a loss of algae and loss of the animals that depend on in those environments.” Marine scientists further warn that if climate change continues on its current trajectory, the world’s oceans could lose many more sea organisms by the end of the century. Rising ocean temperatures also affect the metabolism, life cycle, and behavior of many marine species. For some species, temperature serves as a cue for reproduction. For others, the water temperature in spawning areas significantly affects the success of mating and egg survival. A study by the Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research, published in the July 2020 issue of the journal Science states that warming ocean waters could have a devastating effect on fish populations around the globe. The study predicted that climate change if left unchecked, could negatively affect up to 60% of all fish species.

Supreme Master Ching Hai also frequently reminds us about the dangers of warming oceans, and that the fastest way to stop climate change is through global adoption of the organic vegan diet. “Scientists have expressed concern, for example, that if the ocean waters continue to warm, certain fish whose gender is determined by temperature might end up extinct because only one gender will be produced. Problems like this show the interconnectedness of life and the environment. To think that a small temperature change can actually change a female fish to becoming a male. This situation can change, yes. It can be reversed, but we have to act quickly, for these and all the other imperiled lives in the ocean and on land. So please join, sir, and spread the vital messages. We all must Be veg, Go green, if we are to save the planet.”