Sea turtle egg incubation temperature determines sex ratio, and rising beach temperatures from climate change are creating dangerously female-biased populations with welfare implications.
Population sex ratio skewing from climate change creates a welfare threat at population scale: populations becoming overwhelmingly female face declining reproductive success as males become rare, threatening population viability. Individual turtles born into declining populations face increased difficulty finding mates and ultimately the welfare harm of population collapse. Nest shading interventions can preserve sex ratios and represent a direct welfare protection measure available to beach conservation teams now.