Climate change could turn green turtles female

London: Up to 93 per cent of green turtle hatchlings could be female by 2100 as climate change causes "feminisation" of the species, new research suggests.

A green sea turtle at Lizard Island in Australia.

The sex of turtle hatchlings is determined by temperature, and at present about 52 per cent of hatching green turtles – one of seven species of sea turtle – are female.

But a study by the University of Exeter and the Marine and Environmental Sciences Centre in Portugal shows that in warmer temperatures predicted by Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change scenarios, 76 to 93 per cent of hatchlings would be female.

The figures are specific to the study site in Guinea-Bissau, West Africa but researchers say they expect a similar picture globally.

Read the story from The Age - “Climate change could turn green turtles female.”