The sea is boiling. The sea off Tongyeong, Gyeongsangnam-do, rose 5 degrees in a week. Following the West Sea and the South Sea, a high-temperature warning was issued for the East Sea. As the entire Korean Peninsula, including the sea and rice fields, as well as the city center, suffers from heat waves, damage to livestock and crops is becoming a reality. Concern about rising food prices is growing.
Up to 29 degrees of sea water temperature, which is less than 24 degrees in normal times
According to the Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries on the 8th, the National Institute of Fisheries Science issued a high-temperature warning on the central and southern coasts of the East Sea between Goseong, Gangwon-do and Gadeok-do, Busan the day before. High-temperature warnings have already been issued at the end of last month for the entire coast of the West Sea and the South Sea, except for Heuksando and Jindo waters. In fact, it means that all the seas surrounding the Korean Peninsula are hot . If the water temperature exceeds 28 degrees Celsius, a high-temperature advisory is issued, and if the water temperature exceeds 28 degrees Celsius for more than 3 days, a high-temperature warning sounds. The normal sea water temperature is below 24 degrees.
Due to the rain that fell throughout July this year, the high temperature warning was first issued later than the previous year, which was in early July. However, the speed at which the water temperature rises is steep due to the unprecedented heat wave. For example, the water temperature off the coast of Jinhae and Tongyeong in Gyeongsangnam-do rose 4.5 to 5 degrees in just a week after the end of the rainy season, approaching 29 degrees .
The warming seas are especially threatening to fish in cages . An immediate rise in water temperature is fatal for flounder and rockfish, which grow well around 20 degrees. As the water temperature rises, the amount of oxygen in the sea water decreases, making it difficult for fish to breathe. In addition, rapid rise in water temperature like this year reduces the immunity of farmed fish. Even fish that are resistant to high temperatures, such as mullet, enter the range of damage.
In fact, damage is occurring due to high water temperature. According to the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters (the major script), as of the 7th, 40,900 flatfish in the farm died due to the heat wave. The scale of damage so far is insignificant compared to the summer of 2021, when 10.42 million animals died, but the possibility of increasing in the future cannot be ruled out. This is because there are observations that the heat wave continues even after Typhoon Kanun, which lowers the water temperature, has passed.
‘Double Go’ farmhouse destroyed by flood
It is the same for livestock and crops on land that go through a tough summer due to the heat wave. As a result of the heavy script, 253,070 major안전놀이터 livestock, such as pigs, chickens, and ducks, which are vulnerable to heat, lost their lives due to the heat wave this year. When the temperature exceeds 27 degrees Celsius, livestock suffer from high-temperature stress, resulting in decreased immunity and loss of appetite, and sometimes die. This heatwave is a double whammy for livestock farms where 930,000 livestock died last month due to flood damage .
Crop damage due to the heat wave has not been detected yet, but it is easy to suffer from poor crop yields, especially for open field crops. If soft rot strikes cabbages, radishes, and carrots grown in Gangwon-do, production may drop sharply. Soft rot occurs when heat waves continue in the midst of humidity due to a long rainy season like now.
If damage to farmed fish, livestock, and crops increases due to the heatwave, a hit to food prices is inevitable . As the market supply decreases, the price rises. Han In-seong, director of climate change research at the National Fisheries Research and Development Institute, said, “The word ‘high water temperature’, which was not used in the 2000s, has been frequently used recently as abnormal climate phenomena have intensified.” do,” he said.
Kim Won-tae, head of the horticultural department at the Rural Economic Institute, said, “In addition to open field crops, crops in greenhouses such as lettuce and sesame leaves may not grow well due to the rise in night temperatures.