Hunter Cowles                                                                                               207 words

hc17@geneseo.edu

INTD: 105-19 Science Writing

In the article “The Heart of the Antarctic,” a research group discovers an organism with remarkable adaptations so it could not only survive, but thrive in it’s very harsh and unforgiving environment. The organism discussed in the article was very similar to a species referred to as the “white crocodile fish”. This fish is the only type of its kind that doesn’t have red blood cells or hemoglobin which facilitates circulation and blood flow in the frigid waters which can fall as low as -1.8 degrees celsius in the winter. A striking disadvantage of this mutation however, is the fact that the icefish must exert a considerable amount of energy just to circulate its blood and maintain homeostasis  compared to fish that live in more temperate waters.

I’m very curious to see how manmade climate change would affect these fish due to the fact they are most vulnerable to slight deviations in temperature. Additionally, how much of the population would be able to revert back to their former state (with red blood cells). Climate change and global warming continues to be a major contributing factor towards the loss of species. Many scientists estimate we are losing dozens of species on the daily.