Climate change may soon cause more extinctions in marine mammals than habitat loss or overexploitation, threatening vital ecological roles in ocean ecosystems.
A study identified the North Pacific Ocean, Greenland Sea, and Barents Sea as the most vulnerable regions for marine mammals under both high and low greenhouse gas emission scenarios.
Key threatened species like the North Pacific right whale and dugong exhibited unique traits, and their potential extinction could lead to significant losses in functional diversity, impacting marine ecosystems significantly.