Bill Sydeman, a senior scientist at Californias Farallon Institute, said he believes the most likely scenario is that the deaths are related to a massive blob of warm water that heated the North Pacific last year and contributed to Californias drought and to 2014 being the hottest year on record. That water was hotter and stayed warm longer than at any time since record-keeping began. It stretched across the Gulf of Alaska, where a high-pressure system blocked storms, preventing the water from churning to the surface and mixing with air. More warm water eventually moved inward along the coast as far south as California, altering how favorable the environment was for the zooplankton that many fish and birds, including Cassins auklets, feed on.
Posted on: Sun, 25 Jan 2015 02:06:25 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015