Climate Change
All stages of a sea turtle's life are affected by environmental conditions such as temperature, including reproduction. Unusually warm temperatures caused by climate change result in fewer male hatchlings.
Rising sea surface temperatures also lead to the loss of important foraging grounds for sea turtles. Severe storms and rises in sea levels can also destroy critical nesting beaches and damage nests.
Habitat Loss
Sea turtles are dependent on beaches for nesting. Various Human activities such as the uncontrolled coastal development, vehicle traffic on beaches etc. have directly contributed twards the destruction/disturbance of sea turtle nesting beaches around the world. The light pollution caused from roads and buildings disorient hatchlings away from the sea, while vehicle traffic on beaches compacts the sand, this results in the inability for female turtles to dig nests. Sedimentation from clearing of land and nutrient run-off from agriculture damage and destroy turtle feeding grounds such as coral reefs and seagrass beds. Dredging and sand filling on Beach restoration projects for the protection seaside buildings have also been found to be harmful towards turtles.
Overharvesting and Illegal Trade
Unsustainable harvesting of Sea turtles, as a source of food and income via turtle meat and eggs and the trade of their parts as a source for medicine and religious ceremonies result in the loss of tens of thousands of sea turtles every year. This is devastating, especially towards turtle species such as the green turtles and hawksbill turtles.
Turtles are also being killed for both domestic and international markets as well. Although the International trade in all sea turtle species and their parts is prohibited under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), illegal trafficking remains.
