Tuesday December 7, 2021
The National News —
The melting of glaciers through climate change could create new spawning grounds for Pacific salmon and allow new fisheries to develop in previously ice-locked areas over the next century.
Researchers believe that the retreat of the glaciers by the year 2100 in North America could open up 6,000 kilometres of new streams to salmon, with a third of the area suitable for spawning and rearing young.
A study in the journal Nature Communications suggests millions more young salmon will be born if the population is not hit by other impacts of climate change, such as rising waters and flooding. Warming waters are putting existing salmon populations at stress, the study found.
Global warming in Arctic regions is a threat to polar bears and other creatures that rely on sea ice, but salmon could thrive under the changing conditions.