Climate change, specifically rising global temperatures, threatens the survival of much marine life on the Pacific Coast of BC. Specific species are being driven close to extinction, causing widespread repercussions potentially affecting the entire planet. A key example of this is the mass death of Sunflower Sea Stars due to Sea Star Wasting disease.

British Columbia’s largest starfish the Sunflower Sea Star.
(Naturediver/istock)

My article explains Sea Star Wasting Disease and how the deaths are affecting the environment as a whole. With fewer Sunflower Sea Stars to eat sea urchins, the urchins are destroying kelp forests and the habitats of the animals that depend on these forests for survival. My article then delves into the repercussions of kelp die off, as well as the potential for human-made kelp farms to revive the kelp and be a potential solution for further mitigating the effects of climate change on the environment.

Kelp (Baycliff/Pexels)