Doctors Karen and Scott Eckert, at Duke University, study endangered sea turtles. These turtles spend most of their time in the ocean, but adult females must come onshore at regular intervals to lay their eggs. As the climate warms and sea levels rise, the turtles are losing their nesting grounds.
"Sea turtles face many threats over their long lives: hunting, accidental capture and drowning in fishing nets, loss of feeding grounds due to pollution and seabed destruction, and loss of nesting beaches due to coastal development. But these threats may soon be eclipsed by sea level rise and the loss of entire coastlines, a reality already facing many tropical island nations."
Photo courtesy Karen Eckert