SAN DIEGO — Scientists at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego have been focusing on the elements in the food we eat in the ocean and their potential effects on human health in a changing climate.

Trace-metal bio-geochemist Amina Schartup has been focusing on mercury accumulation in seafood.

Scientists have been using climate models to predict how mercury levels could change in the future as fish habitats change.

Schartup explained that as the ocean warms, some species in the sea tend to move.

“Fish tend to follow their food. They have relatively narrow bands of temperature preferences,” she said.

According to National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration data, heat content in the global ocean has been consistently above-average since the mid-1990s.

Another study focuses on sea urchins to help understand how chemical exposure may impact kids and babies.

Biochemist Brad Moore, who is the director of the Scripps Center for Oceans and Human Health, said the research's goal is to provide people with more information about the seafood on their plates.  

“And so, we’re trying to predict in the future where those contaminants are and where they’re going to be,” he said.

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