Single Heat Wave Wiped Out Millions Of Alaska's Dominant Seabird

This handout photo provided by the US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) shows common murres clustered together on a cliff ledge at the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge on July 30, 2019 (Credit: AFP)

The common murre, a large black-and-white seabird native to northern waters, has become far less common in Alaska over the past decade due to the impacts of climate change.

A study published Thursday in Science reveals that a record-breaking marine heat wave in the northeast Pacific from 2014 to 2016 triggered a catastrophic population collapse, wiping out four million birds -- about half the species in the region.