Climate change has likely begun to suffocate the world's fisheries

Climate change has likely begun to suffocate the world's fisheries

Source: https://phys.org/news/2022-02-climate-begun-suffocate-world-fisheries.html

Author: American Geophysical Union

By 2080, around 70% of the world's oceans could be suffocating from a lack of oxygen as a result of climate change, potentially impacting marine ecosystems worldwide, according to a new study. Oceans carry dissolved oxygen as a gas, and just like land animals, aquatic animals need that oxygen to breathe. Rising temperatures lead to warmer waters that can hold less dissolved oxygen, which creates less circulation between the ocean's layers. The new findings are deeply concerning and adds to the urgency to engage meaningfully in mitigating climate change, says Matthew Long, an oceanographer at NCAR who was not involved in the study. "Humanity is currently changing the metabolic state of the largest ecosystem on the planet, with really unknown consequences for marine ecosystems," he said. "