2020 can be described as a fantasy year, bound to enter the annals of human development, whether it is the ravages of the new crown virus or the rare high temperatures in the two polar regions under the influence of the greenhouse effect, as well as forest fires and locust plagues, but the results are still good, we successfully passed 2020 into 2021.
Not long ago, an expert on the biodiversity of the earth gave an impressive data, according to statistics and speculation estimates, about 2000 gray whales will die of unknown causes in 2020, accounting for about one-tenth of their population. Whales are a large group of mammals that are more important in the ocean, mainly divided into small toothed whales and larger baleen whales, such as blue whales and humpback whales, because there are no teeth to filter food in the water.
Gray whale is the only member of the genus Baleen whale suborder - gray whale family - gray whale, adult body length of 10-15 meters, the whole body is gray and with white spots, many are parasitic barnacles, mainly distributed in the North Pacific and North Atlantic, in China's Yellow Sea, East China Sea and South China Sea region is also distributed.
< h1 class = "pgc-h-arrow-right" > scientists speculate that about 2,000 or so gray whales will die of unknown causes in 2020</h1>
This kind of marine giant mammal is more important for the earth's ecosystem, 65 million years ago dinosaurs because of a 10 km diameter asteroid hit the area and extinction, in the next 10 million years or so, mammals seized the opportunity to develop rapidly, occupying the ecological niche vacated after the extinction of dinosaurs, the ocean as a representative of mammals whales also developed, is an important link in the food chain.
According to the head of marine mammals of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), about 200 gray whales ran aground in California in 2020, some of them surviving on the shore for a short time, and some of them are individuals who have died, and scientists do not know whether they died because of stranding, or whether the bodies were carried to the shore by the waves after death.
If they are surfed to shore after death, it means that there are larger gray whales dead, and their bodies are not in our field of vision, they rot in the deep sea to form whale drops, or simply be eaten by other mammals. Gray whales, despite their large bodies, still have natural predators, such as killer whales, which are the natural enemies of most whales.
Scientists speculate that about 2,000 gray whales will die inexplicably in 2020, possibly due to the deterioration of the marine ecosystem and the shortage of food.
<h1 class= "pgc-h-arrow-right" > possible cause of mass gray whale deaths</h1>
Whales are such giants, you can imagine how much they need food, krill is the main food source of whales, but in recent years, with the marine ecological environment is not optimistic and humans fish for krill in large quantities, which has led to a reduction in their food sources, humans are robbing whales of food, which makes them often not full.
For example, scientists have conducted anatomical studies on dead gray whales, and found eel grass in their stomachs, which is not the food on the gray whale diet, which means that they sometimes eat abnormally due to hunger, and some gray whales die for this reason.
In addition, scientists have also proposed a variety of possible reasons, such as the intensification of marine pollution, all kinds of plastic waste eventually flowed into the ocean, before scientists have found human plastic products in the world's deepest trench - Mariana Trench, in addition to the naked eye there are many microplastic particles, many plankton will eat them, which is not a good thing for whales on the higher level. In addition, there are also greenhouse effects, and the continuous increase in sea temperature and even the noise generated by human activities will also have an impact on the positioning and navigation of whales.
< h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > the sixth mass extinction may be taking place</h1>
There are currently five known mass extinction events in earth's history, the first occurring at the end of the Ordovician period 440 million years ago, the second occurring in the Devonian period 365 million years ago, the third occurring in the Permian 250 million years ago, the fourth occurring in the Triassic 200 million years ago, and the last time being 65 million years ago, and the dinosaurs that ruled the earth for 160 million years became extinct.
In fact, we can see that in terms of time, the sixth mass extinction event may be happening. In one study, a team of 17 ecologists and climatologists compiled papers on environmental change at 150 of the world's leading universities and concluded that The Earth may be experiencing a sixth mass extinction event. By the end of this century, 20 percent of the planet's species will be threatened with extinction, and the study has now been published in the journal Frontiers in Conservation Science.
With the continuous growth of the population, the pressure on the earth's ecological environment will be increasing, especially our activities affect the survival and development of many organisms. In recent years, scientists have conducted extensive studies of insects and found that their numbers are in great decline and that many species are threatened with extinction.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > said at the end</h1>
Organisms on the earth have appeared for 3.8 billion years, along the way the development and evolution of species extinction, there are also new species appear, these are inevitable, but since human beings are in this era, nature should try to avoid its occurrence, the so-called greater the ability, the greater the responsibility, after all, the destruction of the earth's environment is largely related to human activities.
Text/science black hole, image source network intrusion deletion.