Sea Star Wasting Disease
A new kind of water bacteria has been discovered and it is severely depleting nutrients, especially oxygen, from the ocean. This oxygen shortage is quite literally suffocating sea stars. Lesions are found on these animals, as well as lost limbs. Such microbes thrive when there are high levels of organic matter in warm water and create a low oxygen environment that can make sea stars melt in a puddle of slime. Sea star suffocation comes with a plethora of other issues such as cell death. The outbreak of this disease had occurred before 2013 but recently it had been happening at a much faster pace. This is a “snowball effect” because as more starfish die, more of the oxygen-loving bacteria is produced. The problem may get worse with climate change, Hewson says. “Warmer waters can’t have as much oxygen [compared with colder water] just by physics alone.” Bacteria, including copiotrophs, also flourish in warm water. This study is still in the works and there is still much more information to be discovered.
Questions:
How do we try to regulate climate change so this problem can improve?
Do you think it’s ethical to constantly test living organisms in inhume ways (even bacteria)?
How do we reduce the “snowball effect?”
LInks:
https://www.sciencenews.org/article/bacteria-suffocating-sea-stars-wasting-disease-goo
https://images.app.goo.gl/fHa5riCbckCdD75Y6
To limit climate change we can reduce CO2 and greenhouse gas emissions, to do this we can begin to implement green practices. I think that is in some cases it is not ethical to test on living organisms, but this is very dependent on the specifics of the test, without any testing on living organisms including bacteria we would be severely uniformed. We can reduce the snowball effect by implementing practices that will protect starfish while also making efforts to raise water temperature.
ReplyDeleteCarissa Bersche
I do not think it is ethical to test living organisms in inhuman ways, but bacteria is a different story, I don't think its wrong to test bacteria because I feel like bacteria is not on the same level as other organisms
ReplyDelete-Angeline Upchurch
on that of climate change we need to look inland and coastal regions and where CO2 and other greenhouse gasses are really high and find a way to reduce that. With ethical practices where animals or organisms are not facing extreme harm or will not have severe affects on society it usually is ok to do. To reduce the snowball effect we need to take action against even the smallest of issues so they don't pile up to bigger ones.
ReplyDelete-Tyler A.
I think it is never ethical to test on living organisms like animals. When it comes to bacteria though, I'm not so sure. I don't think that bacteria can feel pain are much as animals do, because bacteria don't have tissues or organs nor do they have a sensory/nervous system.
ReplyDeleteTrinity Mathis
I don't think it's unethical to test on bacteria, they don't have a nervous system so they can't feel pain like we do and they don't have emotions so I don't see what the issue is testing on them. These oxygen loving water bacteria are overpopulated, and causing an imbalance in water ecosystems so it's important that we test/ find a way to reduce them.
ReplyDelete-Ilori T
I think Hewson stated that, compared to colder waters, "warmer waters can't have as much oxygen" because organisms and microorganisms survive better in warmer waters which means they also reproduce more and faster. The larger number of oxygen-consuming organisms in warmer waters most likely cause the disparities between cold and warm water oxygen levels. -Shirin Saha
ReplyDeleteI never think its ok to test on animals in inhuman way but when you bring in the topic of bacteria I feel thats it a different case. I dont think its wrong to test on bacteria because they're in a different category than regular animals such as a tiger or something.-Raquel Morgens
ReplyDelete