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$content = "<p>Some plants and animals are better off than they were before the 2021 heat dome, despite a week of record-breaking heat intensity across Western North America. </p>
<p>In a study of approximately 50 species, researchers from across Canada found more than three quarters were negatively affected by the heat dome, while about 25 per cent actually saw a positive outcome. </p>
<p>Challenging the common assumption heat waves uniformly harm vegetation, the study found cooler, wetter areas of BC were able to absorb 30 per cent more carbon than usual, while warmer, drier climates absorbed 75 per cent less, said co-author Dr. Sean Michaletz, associate professor at the University of British Columbia (UBC) department of botany.</p>
<p>“During the heat dome in the places where it was cool, suddenly we have this warm air come in, and it's like putting the plants in a greenhouse for a couple of weeks, and so it boosted their productivity,” he said. </p>
<p>However, this is not necessarily a net positive for ecosystems. </p>
<p><img alt="<who> Photo credit: File" src="/files/files/images/heatwave.jpg" style="margin: 5px;" /></p>
<p>To paint a picture of how ecosystems changed in the aftermath of the heat dome, scientists used a combination of computer modelling, media reports and a meta-analysis of existing field data and remote sensing: a technique using pictures, satellite images and surface temperature data. </p>
<p>Although some species fared better than others, there are no winners when a heat event of this magnitude strikes, said Julia Baum, lead author and professor of biology at the University of Victoria (UVic). Looking at sea lettuce, a shallow-water species of marine algae, she found that it grew to cover as much as 65 per cent more of the beach — but at a great cost.</p>
<p>“It's not so much that it loved the extremely high temperatures that happened during the heat wave, it's more so that most of the other members of its community died,” Baum said. </p>
<p>While the sea lettuce thrived, this wasn’t a positive for the ecosystem as a whole. Kelp plays a much more valuable role, including providing habitat for other species and <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-024-72801-5" target="_blank">mitigating ocean acidification</a>. </p>
<p>Generally, the study found animals with the ability to move to cool areas did so and fared better than species who couldn’t escape the heat. </p>
<p>Moose, for example, were able to move into shady areas and were spotted on trail cameras just as much after the heat dome as before. However, immobile species suffered without the ability to respond to the heat. The thatched barnacle lost half its population, and 92 per cent of bay mussels died in the heat. Intertidal creatures generally suffered even more than would have been expected because the heat dome overlapped with a particularly low series of tides that occurred in the middle of the day, when the heat was at its worst. <a href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/pacific-northwest-heat-wave-killed-more-than-1-billion-sea-creatures/" target="_blank">More than a billion sea creatures</a> are estimated to have died as a result of the heat dome. </p>
<p>Immobile animals were not the only species trapped by the heat. Baum says rehabilitation centers in BC, Washington state and Oregon were inundated with calls about baby birds in high nests jumping from their perch in a last-ditch attempt to escape the heat, plummeting toward injury or death. </p>
<p>Salmon upstream also suffered, overheating and trapped in exposed, shallow creeks. </p>
<p>The destruction was worsened by fires caused by the heat dome, which skyrocketed by almost 400 per cent in the week after the event. That’s because highly flammable, dry debris was more abundant in the heat dome, Michaletz explained.</p>
<p>Policymakers need to factor a future of more heat domes into their decision making, says Michaletz. What was once a one in 1,000 years event will instead happen every five to 10 years by the middle of this century. </p>
<p>“This is going to be the new normal for Western Canada, so even though this heat dome happened five years ago, I think these results we had in this paper are more relevant than ever,” he said. </p>
<p>Baum agrees: extreme weather events, she said, come hard and fast and with little warning, and we need to be proactive about managing them. If not, species will die out, simply because the area that they live in is no longer habitable for them.</p>
<p>One approach could be to renew the Canada Nature Strategy, says Baum. The federal program is set to <a href="https://www.thecanadianpressnews.ca/environment/nature-groups-warn-federal-funding-cuts-endangering-efforts-to-protect-land-water/article_ef571720-aa24-5e95-a2ef-8ba5391bf5cb.html" target="_blank">expire at the end of this month</a> and has funded monitoring and protection of wild habitats both on land and at sea. </p>
<p>“We need to acknowledge and understand that there are tangible things that we can do about it, and start taking action on it now, rather than continuing to delay,” Baum says. </p>
<p>“The biggest risk to me about climate change is the risk of inaction.” </p>
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