Warming And Lack Of Ice May Allow Different Species To SpreadVancouver, B.C. (ECN) - The famed area known as the Northwest Passage thawed last year for the first time in recorded history, and the lack of ice was seen as a possible aberration.
Well this year is shaping up to be a repeat, and the lack of ice brings into question a number of different scenes.
The warmer waters means that the plankton that feeds crustaceans, animals such as clams, mollusks, and oysters, will slowly drift and move into the Arctic and Atlantic.
This may lead to the invasion of these two oceans by the hearty crustaceans that are found in the Pacific Ocean.
The fossil records from the past show this migration or invasion has occurred in the past, but not for literally thousands of years.
The warming has made this situation a very real potential event and has led to a large number of speculation theories among the scientists of the world.
This does not mean that species that are found in the Arctic and Atlantic will wither up and die, but it does mean the potential for competition, and the invasion of species from one ocean to the other is a new situation, one that scientists have not had to deal with before.
