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science Monday 19 deceMber 2022
A13

Starving seabirds on Alaska coast show climate change peril HEALTH

By CHRISTINA LARSON of the North Pole." DOCTOR ON DUTY
AP Science Writer "The changes that are hap- Oranjestad
WASHINGTON (AP) — Dead pening in the Arctic are so
and dying seabirds col- fast and so profound," said Hospital 7:00 pm / 10:00pm
Tel. 527 4000
lected on the coasts of the Peter Marra, a conserva-
northern Bering and south- tion biologist at George- San Nicolas
ern Chukchi seas over the town University, who was Imsan 24 hours
past six years reveal how not involved in the report. Tel.524 8833
the Arctic's fast-changing Seabirds are metaphorical Women in Difficulties
climate is threatening the canaries in the coal mines, PHARMACY ON DUTY
ecosystems and people when it comes to showing Oranjestad:
who live there, according broader ecosystem chang- Santa Cruz Tel. 585 8028
to a report released Tues- A northern fulmar bird skims the water while flying over the Ber- es, Marra said, adding, "We San Nicolas:
day by U.S. scientists. ing Sea off the coast of Alaska, Friday, July 14, 2017. need to do a much better aloe Tel. 584 4606
Associated Press
Local communities have job of monitoring these Women in Difficulties
reported numerous ema- nutritionally and economi- mon and frequent." sentinel populations."q OTHER
ciated bodies of seabirds cally essential," said Shef- In the past year, Arctic an- Dental Clinic 587 9850
— including shearwaters, field. nual surface air tempera- Blood Bank Aruba 587 0002
Urgent Care 586 0448
auklets and murres — that The data on seabirds is tures were the sixth warm- Walk-In Doctor’s Clinic
usually eat plankton, krill or part of an annual report est since records began in +297 588 0539
fish, but appear to have released by the National 1900, the report found. And Women in Difficulties
had difficulty finding suffi- Oceanic and Atmospheric satellite records revealed EMERGENCY
cient food. The hundreds of Administration, called the that for several weeks last Police 100
distressed and dead birds "Arctic Report Card," that summer, large regions near Oranjestad 527 3140
are only a fraction of ones documents changes in a the North Pole were virtu- Noord 527 3200
that starved, scientists say. region warming faster than ally clear of sea ice. Sta. Cruz 527 2900
"Since 2017, we've had anywhere else on Earth. "The sea ice extent was San Nicolas 584 5000
multi-species seabird die- "With climate change, the much lower than long- Police Tipline 11141
offs in the Bering Strait re- food chain is changing term average," said Walt Ambulancia 911
gion," said Gay Sheffield, rapidly," said Don Lyons, Meier, a sea ice expert at Fire Dept. 115
Red Cross
582 2219
a biologist at University of a conservation scientist the University of Colorado
Alaska Fairbanks, based in at the National Audubon Boulder and a co-author TAXI SERVICES
Nome, Alaska and a co- Society's Seabird Institute, of the report. Taxi Tas 587 5900
author of the report. "The who was not involved in "The most notable thing Prof. Taxi 588 0035
one commonality is ema- the report. "Food isn't pre- we saw was during the Taxi D.T.S. 587 2300
Taxi Serv. Aruba 583 3232
ciation, or starvation." dictable in the way it used summer, we saw a lot of A1 Taxi Serv. 280 2828
The seabirds are struggling to be, in terms of where the open-water areas up near Women in Difficulties
because of climate-linked food is, at different times of the North Pole, which was TRAVEL INFO
ecosystem shifts — which the year." once very rare," he said.
can affect the supply and While seabirds naturally ex- "Several kilometers with Aruba Airport 524 2424
the timing of available perience some lean years, very little or no ice, within a American Airlines 582 2700
food — as well as a harm- the report documents a couple hundred kilometers Avianca 588 0059
ful algal bloom and a viral worrying pattern, said Ly- Jet Blue 588 2244
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Surinam
outbreak in the region, she ons. "It seems like we've
said. passed a tipping point — Women in Difficulties
And their peril jeopardizes we've moved into a new AID FOUNDATIONS
the human communities, regime where events that FAVI- Visually Impaired
as well: "Birds are essential we used to think of as rare Tel. 582 5051
to our region — they are and unusual are now com- Alcoholics Anonymous
Tel. 736 2952
Narcotics Anonymous
Tel. 583 8989
Fundacion Contra Violencia
Relacional Tel. 583 5400
Centre for Diabetes
Tel. 524 8888
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