卑诗大学(UBC)一项最新研究显示，由于气候变化，水温上升，加拿大西岸最为矜贵的帝王三文鱼(Chinook，也称作King Salmon)可能在本世纪末濒临绝种。
该项研究认为，假若气候变化持续，帝王三文鱼有5%的机会在2075年之前遭受灾难性打击。在2100年，可能有98%从自然环境中消失。
该项国际性研究聚焦帝王三文鱼如何适应气候变化所触发的水温上升。
水温升逾24.5℃ 三文鱼心律失常
参与研究的卑诗大学动物学家法雷尔(Anthony Farrell)指出，年幼的三文鱼在水温升逾24.5度之后，心脏便会出现严重问题。
科学家发现，一旦超过这一温度，鱼的心跳便不能加快，并会出现心跳减速，或是心律失常的问题。
该项研究也在卑诗大学校报“UBC新闻”(UBC News)的报道中出现。
法雷尔说，假若气候变化不能逆转，帝王三文鱼将会陷身困境。
帝王三文鱼可以通过体内的调节系统，适应一定的温度变化，但水温升到了24.5度，帝王三文鱼的心脏将出现严重问题。
该项研究涵括帝王三文鱼不同的遗传转变。并通过繁殖促进遗传变化，以观察其进化能力。
但究竟帝王三文鱼能否通过进化适应气候变化，目前仍然是未知之数。
该研究发现，有些鱼类可能转移到较为寒冷的水温环境。但有些鱼类只能依靠自身的进化能力适应环境的变化。
该项研究最近在Nature Climate Change刊物内发表。
①Chinook salmon could be wiped out by 2100, new study claims
http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/chinook-salmon-could-be-wiped-out-by-2...
New climate-change research involving a University of British Columbia scientist predicts that one of the West Coast's most prized salmon stocks could be wiped out over the next 85 years.
A study has concluded that there is a five per cent chance of a catastrophic loss of the chinook salmon by 2075, and a 98 per cent chance the population will suffer catastrophic losses by 2100, if climate change warms the water.
An international research team looked at the ability by the chinook to adapt to warming water temperatures caused by climate change.
UBC zoologist Anthony Farrell was part of the research group and says the juvenile salmon studied developed serious heart problems in water temperatures higher than 24.5 C.
Once past that temperature, the study found that the heart couldn't go any faster and would either slow or go arrhythmic.
The study was recently published in the journal Nature Climate Change.
Chinook salmon are the primary food source for the endangered southern resident killer whale population.
②Chinook salmon at risk of 'catastrophic loss' under global warming, new study reveals
Global warming is hard on the hearts of chinook salmon
Read more: http://www.vancouversun.com/business/resources/Chinook+salmon+risk+catas...
VANCOUVER — Global warming is hard on the hearts of chinook salmon. A new study published in the journal, Nature Climate Change, finds that chinook can adapt to a warming environment — but only to a point.
Anthony Farrell, a professor of zoology and land and food systems at the University of B.C., explained that a juvenile chinook’s heart beats faster with warming water until, at 24.5° Celsius, it can beat no faster and “slows or goes arrhythmic.”
If climate change continues unchecked, chinook face dire consequences, he said. That could also have serious implications for predators such as the endangered southern resident killer whales, which favour chinook.
The study, based on the Quinsam River stock from Vancouver Island, concluded there’s a 17-per-cent chance of “catastrophic loss” in the chinook population by 2100 under an “average warming projection” of 2.6 degrees rising to as much as 98 per cent under a “maximum warming scenario” of 4.3 degrees.
Other participants in the study included the University of Western Ontario in London, and Yellow Island Aquaculture Ltd. in Heriot Bay, B.C.