The birds – a species known as the common murre – likely died of starvation due to the warm water, which severely disrupted the birds' food supply.
Scientists say the mass die-off was unprecedented – both for murres, and across all bird species worldwide.
Scientists estimate that the actual number of deaths was likely close to one million, since only a fraction of birds that die will wash to shore, and only a fraction of those will be in places that people can access. The warming was due to a persistent ridge of high atmospheric pressure that kept winds calm. A high-pressure ridge features sinking air, which also prevents clouds from forming and precipitation from falling.
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