World's Largest Turtle Could Be Extinct in 20 Years

''We're not doing enough to save leatherback sea turtles or their ocean home. The problems they face -- climate change, plastic pollution, fisheries that catch far more than fish -- are problems that threaten us, too," said Kilduff" This is a quote from Catherine Kilduff of the Centre for Biological.


This quote is found in a recent article from CBS News. The article is about the leather back sea turtle and how it is going extinct. Of course the biggest problems are related to humans.

The article gives four different reasons that the sea turtles are dying out. One of them is plastic pollution. It astonishes me how still in this day and age people still think its ok to throw garbage into the environment. There should be better efforts to keep not just our beaches clean, but other environments too.

Another major problem is climate change. There is argument on both sides whether or not climate change is generated from humans. Personally, I think that it is a little of both. I would say that humans most certainly contribute to climate change. We put so many burnt fossil fuels into the air each day, I don't see how anyone could say that doesn't effect anything. At the same time though, if you look back in time, there are records of extreme climate changes and there have been scientific studies proving that the Earth's climate goes through cycles.

I found it interesting that due to the climate change, whatever it is caused by, the turtle eggs aren't able to fully grow because the climate heats up the sand too much and it damages the eggs. This is something I have never heard, but it makes sense.

It is sad that so many animals are on the brink of extinction. Attached to the article is a link of over 60 animals that are nearing extinction due to issues like the leather back sea turtle are facing.

View the original CBS article here
World's largest turtle could be extinct in 20 years, scientists say - CBS News:

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