"Loss of oxygen in the oceans is one of the serious side effects of a warming atmosphere and a major threat to marine life," said NCAR scientist Matthew Long.
(Photo: Jon Wiley/flickr/cc)
Apr 28, 2016
According to a new study that warns of widespread deoxygenation within decades, imperiling fish, crabs, squid, sea stars, and myriad other marine creatures, climate change is sapping the oceans of oxygen.
Using models and maps, researchers at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) in Boulder, Colorado, could quantify and differentiate between large-scale changes in oxygen in the oceans due to both natural variability and climate change.
They confirmed deoxygenated "dead zones"--which leave marine creatures struggling to breathe--caused by climate change already exist in the southern Indian Ocean and parts of the eastern tropical Pacific and Atlantic basins, and determined that more widespread detection of deoxygenation caused by climate change would be possible between 2030 and 2040.
The National Science Foundation funded the findings and published in the American Geophysical Union journal Global Biogeochemical Cycles.
"Loss of oxygen in the oceans is one of the serious side effects of a warming atmosphere and a major threat to marine life," said NCAR scientist Matthew Long, lead author of the study. "Since oxygen concentrations in the ocean naturally vary depending on variations in winds and temperature at the surface, it's been challenging to attribute any deoxygenation to climate change. This new study tells us when we can expect the effect of climate change to overwhelm the natural variability."
Putting the study in context, Popular Science wrote:
Low levels of oxygen in the oceans can be devastating. Not only can they kill or slow down ocean life in the present, but if low oxygen levels persist, they can have grave impacts on the future. 'The Great Dying' is an extinction event that killed roughly 90 percent of species on Earth 250 million years ago. Researchers looking at the event found that low levels of oxygen in the oceans probably slowed down the recovery of life on Earth. After that extinction, it took five million years for the diversity of life to recover as oxygen levels in the oceans slowly rose back to normal.
On Twitter, United Nations climate chief Christiana Figueres said the findings represented the "Alarm bells...of science ringing loud & clear."
Climate change threatens the world's oceanic ecosystems on several fronts. Just last week, Common Dreams reported that climate change is the underlying cause of the coral bleaching event that has all but destroyed the Great Barrier Reef.
And as the Sydney Morning Heraldwrote on Thursday, "We also know that our oceans have become about 30 percent more acidic since pre-industrial times as they absorb the billions of tonnes a year of carbon dioxide released from our burning of fossil fuels and forests, making it harder for shellfish and crabs to form shells."
"We're driving pretty massive changes in the environment--and we're not just changing one variable," Long told the paper. "We're changing a suite of variables to which marine organisms are sensitive and putting significant demands on their adaptive capacities."
Join Us: News for people demanding a better world
Common Dreams is powered by optimists who believe in the power of informed and engaged citizens to ignite and enact change to make the world a better place. We're hundreds of thousands strong, but every single supporter makes the difference. Your contribution supports this bold media model—free, independent, and dedicated to reporting the facts every day. Stand with us in the fight for economic equality, social justice, human rights, and a more sustainable future. As a people-powered nonprofit news outlet, we cover the issues the corporate media never will. |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
Deirdre Fulton
Deirdre Fulton is a former Common Dreams senior editor and staff writer. Previously she worked as an editor and writer for the Portland Phoenix and the Boston Phoenix, where she was honored by the New England Press Association and the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies. A Boston University graduate, Deirdre is a co-founder of the Maine-based Lorem Ipsum Theater Collective and the PortFringe theater festival. She writes young adult fiction in her spare time.
According to a new study that warns of widespread deoxygenation within decades, imperiling fish, crabs, squid, sea stars, and myriad other marine creatures, climate change is sapping the oceans of oxygen.
Using models and maps, researchers at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) in Boulder, Colorado, could quantify and differentiate between large-scale changes in oxygen in the oceans due to both natural variability and climate change.
They confirmed deoxygenated "dead zones"--which leave marine creatures struggling to breathe--caused by climate change already exist in the southern Indian Ocean and parts of the eastern tropical Pacific and Atlantic basins, and determined that more widespread detection of deoxygenation caused by climate change would be possible between 2030 and 2040.
The National Science Foundation funded the findings and published in the American Geophysical Union journal Global Biogeochemical Cycles.
"Loss of oxygen in the oceans is one of the serious side effects of a warming atmosphere and a major threat to marine life," said NCAR scientist Matthew Long, lead author of the study. "Since oxygen concentrations in the ocean naturally vary depending on variations in winds and temperature at the surface, it's been challenging to attribute any deoxygenation to climate change. This new study tells us when we can expect the effect of climate change to overwhelm the natural variability."
Putting the study in context, Popular Science wrote:
Low levels of oxygen in the oceans can be devastating. Not only can they kill or slow down ocean life in the present, but if low oxygen levels persist, they can have grave impacts on the future. 'The Great Dying' is an extinction event that killed roughly 90 percent of species on Earth 250 million years ago. Researchers looking at the event found that low levels of oxygen in the oceans probably slowed down the recovery of life on Earth. After that extinction, it took five million years for the diversity of life to recover as oxygen levels in the oceans slowly rose back to normal.
On Twitter, United Nations climate chief Christiana Figueres said the findings represented the "Alarm bells...of science ringing loud & clear."
Climate change threatens the world's oceanic ecosystems on several fronts. Just last week, Common Dreams reported that climate change is the underlying cause of the coral bleaching event that has all but destroyed the Great Barrier Reef.
And as the Sydney Morning Heraldwrote on Thursday, "We also know that our oceans have become about 30 percent more acidic since pre-industrial times as they absorb the billions of tonnes a year of carbon dioxide released from our burning of fossil fuels and forests, making it harder for shellfish and crabs to form shells."
"We're driving pretty massive changes in the environment--and we're not just changing one variable," Long told the paper. "We're changing a suite of variables to which marine organisms are sensitive and putting significant demands on their adaptive capacities."
Deirdre Fulton
Deirdre Fulton is a former Common Dreams senior editor and staff writer. Previously she worked as an editor and writer for the Portland Phoenix and the Boston Phoenix, where she was honored by the New England Press Association and the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies. A Boston University graduate, Deirdre is a co-founder of the Maine-based Lorem Ipsum Theater Collective and the PortFringe theater festival. She writes young adult fiction in her spare time.
According to a new study that warns of widespread deoxygenation within decades, imperiling fish, crabs, squid, sea stars, and myriad other marine creatures, climate change is sapping the oceans of oxygen.
Using models and maps, researchers at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) in Boulder, Colorado, could quantify and differentiate between large-scale changes in oxygen in the oceans due to both natural variability and climate change.
They confirmed deoxygenated "dead zones"--which leave marine creatures struggling to breathe--caused by climate change already exist in the southern Indian Ocean and parts of the eastern tropical Pacific and Atlantic basins, and determined that more widespread detection of deoxygenation caused by climate change would be possible between 2030 and 2040.
The National Science Foundation funded the findings and published in the American Geophysical Union journal Global Biogeochemical Cycles.
"Loss of oxygen in the oceans is one of the serious side effects of a warming atmosphere and a major threat to marine life," said NCAR scientist Matthew Long, lead author of the study. "Since oxygen concentrations in the ocean naturally vary depending on variations in winds and temperature at the surface, it's been challenging to attribute any deoxygenation to climate change. This new study tells us when we can expect the effect of climate change to overwhelm the natural variability."
Putting the study in context, Popular Science wrote:
Low levels of oxygen in the oceans can be devastating. Not only can they kill or slow down ocean life in the present, but if low oxygen levels persist, they can have grave impacts on the future. 'The Great Dying' is an extinction event that killed roughly 90 percent of species on Earth 250 million years ago. Researchers looking at the event found that low levels of oxygen in the oceans probably slowed down the recovery of life on Earth. After that extinction, it took five million years for the diversity of life to recover as oxygen levels in the oceans slowly rose back to normal.
On Twitter, United Nations climate chief Christiana Figueres said the findings represented the "Alarm bells...of science ringing loud & clear."
Climate change threatens the world's oceanic ecosystems on several fronts. Just last week, Common Dreams reported that climate change is the underlying cause of the coral bleaching event that has all but destroyed the Great Barrier Reef.
And as the Sydney Morning Heraldwrote on Thursday, "We also know that our oceans have become about 30 percent more acidic since pre-industrial times as they absorb the billions of tonnes a year of carbon dioxide released from our burning of fossil fuels and forests, making it harder for shellfish and crabs to form shells."
"We're driving pretty massive changes in the environment--and we're not just changing one variable," Long told the paper. "We're changing a suite of variables to which marine organisms are sensitive and putting significant demands on their adaptive capacities."
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.