Reuters has created a series of data visualizations showing that rising sea temperatures are causing sea life to move farther north and to deeper depths in the ocean to find cooler waters. The visualizations illustrate that at least 85 percent of the 70 species tracked by the U.S. government, including the black sea bass, the American lobster, and the yellowtail flounder, have moved north, deeper, or both, by large distances. For example, the black sea bass has moved northward by an average of 90 miles since 1968. These movements by sea life have caused higher prices in some instances, a collapse of the sardine population off the coast of Portugal, and struggles in fishing towns such as Wanchese, North Carolina, that depend on offshore fishing that is no longer bountiful because fish such as flounder have moved away.
Visualizing Fish Fleeing Warmer Water
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