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Warming in the North Atlantic over the last 32years has significantly reduced winter sea ice cover in harp seal breeding grounds, resulting in sharply higher death rates among seal pups in recent years, according to a new Duke University-led study.
“The kind of mortality （死亡率） we’re seeing in eastern Canada is dramatic. Entire year—classes maybe disappearing from the population in low ice years—essentially all of the pups die,” said David W.Johnston,research scientist at the Duke University Marine Lab. “It calls into question the resilience （恢复） of the population. ”
The study, recently published today in the peer-reviewed journal PLoS ONE, is the first to show that seasonal sea ice cover in all four harp seal breeding regions in the North Atlantic has declined by as much as 6%a decade since 1979, when satellite records of ice conditions in the region began.
Harp seals rely on stable winter sea ice as safe places to give birth and nurse their young until the pups can swim and hunt on their own. Female seals typically seek out the thickest, oldest ice packs in sub-Arctic waters each February and March, and have adapted to the spring melt by developing unusually short, 12-day nursing periods.
“As a species, they're well suited to deal with natural short-term shifts in climate, but our research suggests they may not be well adapted to absorb the effects of short-term variability combined with longer-term climate change and other human influences such as hunting and by-catch,” Johnston said.
Analysis of older data revealed that NAO-related changes in seasonalice cover may have contributed to major declines in seal populations on the east coast of Canada from1950 to 1972 and to a period of steady recovery from 1973 to2000.
“This clearly shows that harp seal populations across the Atlantic fluctuate pretty much in synch with NAO trends and associated winter ice conditions,” Johnston said. “But there’s a warning. Regardless of NAO conditions,our models show that sea ice cover in all harp seal breeding regions in the North Atlantic have been declining by as much as 6%a decade over the study period. The losses in bad years outweigh the gains in good years. ”
“Akey unanswered question,” he added, “is whether seals will be able to respond to the long-term trend by moving to other, more stable ice habitats. ”
Recent reports that some harp seals are whelping in new breeding grounds off East Greenland indicate some shifting maybe taking place, but thousands still return each year to traditional breeding grounds in the Gulf of St. Lawrence or along the Front, off Newfoundland, regardless of ice conditions.
“There’s only so much ice <u>out there</u>, and declines in the quantity and quality of it across the region, coupled with the earlier arrival of spring ice breakup, is literally leaving these populations on thinice,” Johnston said. “It may take years of good ice and steady population gains to makeup for the heavy losses sustained during the recent string of bad ice years in eastern Canada. ”
38.What does the underlined “out there” in the last paragraph refer to?
A. Traditional breeding grounds off Newfoundland
B. New breeding grounds off East Greenland.
C. Ice-covered places in eastern Canada.
D. Regions across the North Atlantic.
39.Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the article?
A.Studying ice cover in the North Atlantic has been in progress since the 19th century.
B.Harp seals are known for their ability to cope with all types of climate.
C.The North Atlantic is still sought by seals for breeding despite the warming.
D.There’s no hope of recovering the numbers of seals in the North Atlantic.
40.Which of the following can be the best title of the article?
A.Harp seals on the thin ice after 32 years of warming.
B. Ice in the North Atlantic is disappearing.
C.Female harp seals are shortening their nursing periods.
D. Harp seals moving to new homes.
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