Well, here’s a bummer of a story. Dolphins are getting Alzheimer’s, and climate change might be the one driving them senile.That ultimately means that we are giving dolphins Alzheimer’s. Add it to the ever-growing list of scary effects of climate change that are suddenly all rearing their ugly heads at the same time.A new study published in Communication Biology examining the brains of 20 common bottlenose dolphins that stranded themselves in Florida’s Indian River Lagoon between 2010 and 2019 found they showed Alzheimer’s-like brain damage.Dolphins that washed ashore during algal bloom seasons had brain concentrations of a neurotoxin called 2,4-diaminobutyric acid (2,4-DAB, for short) that were an astounding 2,900 times higher than those that beached during less toxic times.Dolphins Might Be Developing Alzheimer’s-Like Symptoms Thanks to Climate ChangeAll of this toxicity is coming from harmful algal blooms, which are giant slime deposits that form in water thanks to warming oceans and nutrient-rich runoff. These blooms release neurotoxins that mess with the brains of marine life. Since dolphins are the gold standard for not just sea creatures but all animal life, this kind of research positions them as a sort of canary in the coal mine. If algal blooms created by climate change are rotting the brains of one of the smartest animals on earth, what’s happening to the rest of the ecosystem? And is it happening to us?The researchers are quick to point out that yes, dolphins already tend to develop Alzheimer’s-like brain changes as they age. But they also suggest that those changes might be getting turbocharged by these environmental toxins. So it’s not so much that the toxins are introducing Alzheimer’s-like brain deterioration to dolphins as much as they’re expediting its onset and decline. And maybe ours, too. Previous studies have shown that these same neurotoxins can move up the food chain and persist in ecosystems, meaning that if they’re affecting sea creatures, they’re affecting us too.It’s tragic to see dolphins suffering Alzheimer’s-like conditions, especially knowing that we might have not only caused it, but we might be in for the same fate.The post Scientists Think Climate Change Is Causing Alzheimer’s-Like Brain Damage in Dolphins appeared first on VICE.