• Disrupting Power Since 2015
  • Donate
  • Login
Wednesday, May 21, 2025
  • Login
  • Register
Canary
MEDIA THAT DISRUPTS
  • News
    • UK
    • Global
    • Analysis
    • Trending
  • Editorial
  • Features
    • Features
    • Environment
    • Lifestyle
    • Health
    • Money
    • Science
    • Business
    • Tech
    • Travel
    • Sport & Gaming
  • Media
    • Video
    • Cartoons
  • Opinion
No Result
View All Result
MANAGE SUBSCRIPTION
SUPPORT
  • News
    • UK
    • Global
    • Analysis
    • Trending
  • Editorial
  • Features
    • Features
    • Environment
    • Lifestyle
    • Health
    • Money
    • Science
    • Business
    • Tech
    • Travel
    • Sport & Gaming
  • Media
    • Video
    • Cartoons
  • Opinion
No Result
View All Result
Canary
No Result
View All Result

Seabird numbers decline as climate breakdown bites, experts warn

The Canary by The Canary
10 March 2020
in Environment, News, Other News & Features
Reading Time: 4 mins read
170 2
A A
0
Home Other News & Features Environment
319
SHARES
2.5k
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Many seabirds are struggling in the face of food shortages and storms brought on by climate breakdown, conservationists have warned.

The warning comes as the latest report on breeding seabirds from the Joint Nature Conservation Committee reveals significant declines in species such as Arctic skuas, kittiwakes and northern fulmars in the past two decades.

Numbers of black legged kittiwakes are estimated to have halved since 2000, when the last major census of breeding seabirds took place, while Arctic skuas are down 70% and northern fulmars are down 36%.

Arctic terns have also seen numbers decline (Owen Humphreys/PA)
Arctic terns have also seen numbers decline (Owen Humphreys/PA)

Other species in decline, according to the annual seabird monitoring programme, include little terns which are down a quarter since 2000, European shags, down 24%, and Arctic terns, with a 13% fall in numbers.

Some species have seen their numbers boosted significantly since 2000, but the RSPB’s marine principal policy officer Gareth Cunningham said they were bucking an overall downward trend.

Mediterranean gulls, whose numbers have soared in the UK in the past two decades, were benefiting from rising temperatures which made this country more suitable for them.

And roseate terns, which have seen numbers double in that time, may have benefited from conservation work to restore its nesting habitat, he said.

“For the majority of other species, it’s a trend of decline,” he said.

“Where you are in the country depends how steep the decline is.

Since 1970 over 40% of species in the UK have decreased. We need ambitious targets to reverse this decline. Ask your MP to make sure the #EnvironmentBill does this. https://t.co/B87Ezm5pBd pic.twitter.com/3DjJKqsvNA

— RSPB News (@RSPBNews) February 19, 2020

“In North Scotland and the North Sea we’re seeing the largest declines, primarily through the impacts of climate change, both on food availability and increased storms.”

The climate crisis is contributing to declines in species such as Arctic skuas and northern fulmars, which are affected by the availability of their food source of sand eels that are being hit by warming seas and fishing.

Though the report does not provide a figure for the fortunes of puffins since 2000, Cunningham said the species was also being affected in this way, with a crash in Scottish populations primarily due to the impact on its food sources.

Kittiwakes are also struggling in the face of climate breakdown – and in particular the increase in storms that it brings.

“Unlike most seabirds, they are unable to dive to great depths and if the sea is churned up by storms, it’s very difficult to access the fish,” Cunningham said.

Many seabirds, most of which spend the winter at sea, could also be affected by increased stormy conditions as they risk drowning or expend more energy trying to stay afloat and arrive back for the breeding season worn out.

Puffins
Puffins are struggling in the face of shifts in their food source (Owen Humphreys/PA)

And little terns are being hit by rising sea levels which can cause erosion or wash-outs of their coastal nesting habitat.

Long term measures are needed to tackle climate breakdown, but also shorter-term efforts need to create coastal habitat for nesting birds such as saltmarsh, which can also provide flood protection for people, he said.

He also called for a “holistic” approach to marine planning to ensure offshore wind farms are going in the right place and in the right way, and for governments in all parts of the UK to work together to protect seabirds.

A new census of seabird numbers, which is normally conducted around every 15 years, is currently under way.

Share128Tweet80
Previous Post

Grenfell contractors ‘more concerned about cost than fire safety’

Next Post

Johnson faces first Tory rebellion over Huawei involvement in 5G

Next Post

Johnson faces first Tory rebellion over Huawei involvement in 5G

Call to declare homelessness a national emergency after death of rough sleeper

Call to declare homelessness a national emergency after death of rough sleeper

Zarah Sultana blasts the budget

Labour's most exciting new MP just shredded the Tories' budget

Emma Hardy and the DWP logo

Another MP piles pressure on the DWP over dodgy assessments

Rebecca Long-Bailey

One key fact to focus on when holding your nose and voting for Rebecca Long-Bailey

Please login to join discussion
Horoscope today: your 24-hour briefing for life, love, and more
Horoscopes

Horoscope today: your 24-hour briefing for life, love, and more

by Steve Topple
21 May 2025
DWP open source banking
Analysis

The DWP is quietly trying to get a private company to connect it to disabled people’s bank accounts

by Steve Topple
20 May 2025
gideon's chariots Gaza
Analysis

Gideon’s Chariots: leaked plan shows Israel intentionally pushing Gaza to famine and forced displacement

by Alaa Shamali
20 May 2025
Gideon's Chariots Gaza
Analysis

“عربات جدعون.. مخطط إسرائيلي يقود غزة نحو مجاعة مُمنهجة وتهجير قسري

by Alaa Shamali
20 May 2025
Our friends at Pauzeradio have got the perfect Reggae clothing line for this summer
Lifestyle

Our friends at Pauzeradio have got the perfect Reggae clothing line for this summer

by Steve Topple
20 May 2025
  • Contact
  • About & FAQ
  • Get our Daily News Email
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookie Policy

The Canary
PO Box 71199
LONDON
SE20 9EX

Canary Media Ltd – registered in England. Company registration number 09788095.

For guest posting, contact [email protected]

For other enquiries, contact: [email protected]

The Canary is owned and run by independent journalists and volunteers, NOT offshore billionaires.

You can write for us, or support us by making a regular or one-off donation.

© Canary Media Ltd 2024, all rights reserved | Website by Monster | Hosted by Krystal | Privacy Settings

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password? Sign Up

Create New Account!

Fill the forms below to register

All fields are required. Log In

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
No Result
View All Result
  • News
    • UK
    • Global
    • Analysis
    • Trending
  • Editorial
  • Features
    • Features
    • Environment
    • Lifestyle
    • Health
    • Money
    • Science
    • Business
    • Tech
    • Travel
    • Sport & Gaming
  • Media
    • Video
    • Cartoons
  • Opinion

© 2023 Canary - Worker's co-op.

Before you go, have you seen...?

Horoscope today: your 24-hour briefing for life, love, and more
Horoscopes
Steve Topple

Horoscope today: your 24-hour briefing for life, love, and more

DWP open source banking
Analysis
Steve Topple

The DWP is quietly trying to get a private company to connect it to disabled people’s bank accounts

gideon's chariots Gaza
Analysis
Alaa Shamali

Gideon’s Chariots: leaked plan shows Israel intentionally pushing Gaza to famine and forced displacement

Gideon's Chariots Gaza
Analysis
Alaa Shamali

“عربات جدعون.. مخطط إسرائيلي يقود غزة نحو مجاعة مُمنهجة وتهجير قسري

ADVERTISEMENT
Analysis
Nathan Spears

Vote for the Press Photograph of the Year 2024

Image by Burkard Meyendriesch from Pixabay
Feature
Nathan Spears

Why Santiago Ways is the Leading Choice for Walking the Camino de Santiago

Environment
Nathan Spears

EU elections point to growing public desire for new policymaking approach in Brussels