Climate change

Rising heat tips sea turtle gender balance as hatchlings emerge nearly all female

 Rising temperatures appear to be increasingly turning sea turtle populations mostly female in critical hatching areas around the world. Researchers in Florida say nearly all turtles that have hatched on beaches in the US state over the past four years have been female. Sea turtle gender is not determined by fertilisation, but rather by the temperature of the environment in which their eggs develop. Turtle eggs that incubate above 31 degrees Celsius (88°F) produce males, according to the US National Oceanographic Atmospheric Administration. The last four summers since 2019 have been the hottest on record in the southeastern state.

August 3, 2022