WARMER SEAS HARBOR SICKENING BACTERIA

Scientists say warmer seas are responsible for the emergence of a gastroenteritis-causing group of bacteria in northern Europe and outbreaks elsewhere in the world. They found that every year that the Baltic Sea’s surface temperature rose one degree, the number of Vibrioinfections in the area rose by nearly 200 percent. These bacteria are generally found in tropical marine environments but are spreading in areas that are warming, and the Baltic Sea in particular has been warming at an unprecedented rate. Vibrio outbreaks have also been recorded in Chile, Peru, Israel, the northwestern US, and northwestern Spain and have been linked to warming in these regions. More…