Extreme Heat Is Killing Extreme Numbers Of Fish

By Barbara J. King

Published July 7, 2012 at 7:24 PM PDT

Where I live, near Williamsburg, Virginia, it reached 100 degrees today, and according to meteorologists, felt like 108. All across the country, the story is the same: record-breaking heat.

And now we know that these extreme temperatures (and lower water levels) are killing off many thousands of fish, who don't have enough oxygen in lakes and rivers to survive. About 10,000 bluegills died in a single Tennessee lake.

Here is news that makes me shiver.

You can keep up with more of what Barbara is thinking on Twitter: @bjkingape

Barbara J. King

Barbara J. King is a contributor to the NPR blog 13.7: Cosmos & Culture. She is a Chancellor Professor of Anthropology at the College of William and Mary. With a long-standing research interest in primate behavior and human evolution, King has studied baboon foraging in Kenya and gorilla and bonobo communication at captive facilities in the United States.

See stories by Barbara J. King