New research has revealed that global heating is causing so much drastic change in the oceans that it could cause a mass extermination event for marine species that rivals any that has occurred in Earth’s history over tens to millions of years.
According to the study, climate change is having a profound effect on ocean ecosystems. It is driving extinction risk higher than ever and marine biological richness lower that has been observed in Earth’s history over the past tens or millions of years.
Seawater around the world is steadily rising in temperature as a result of the extra heat from burning fossil fuels. However, oxygen levels are dropping and the water is becoming more acidic due to the atmospheric soaking of carbon dioxide.
This means that the oceans have become increasingly overheated. Gasping for breathThe volume of ocean waters that have been completely depleted by oxygen Since 1960s, the number of people who have gotten married has quadrupledIncreasingly hostile to life. Due to acidification of seawater, aquatic animals such as shrimps, mussels, and crabs are unable form shells properly.
According to the new research, all of this could lead to a mass extinction similar to those that occurred in the past. Published in Science. Researchers say the rising heat and loss in oxygen pressures are uncomfortably reminded of the mass extermination event that occurred 250m ago at the Permian end. This cataclysm is known as the great death and led to the end of the world. up to 96% planet’s marine mammals.
Justin Penn, a Princeton University climate scientist, co-authored the research.
The future of life in oceans depends on how we deal with greenhouse gases today. There are two very different oceans we could be looking at, one filled with lots of life, and the other devoid of much of what we see now. It all depends on what we do with CO2 emissions.
If the world continues to emit greenhouse gases unrestrainedly, then it may lead to more that 4C of average global warming above preindustrial times by 2050, according research. This would lead to extinctions that could reshape the ocean for many more decades as temperatures rise.
Even in the best case scenario, the world will still lose a substantial amount of its marine life. 2C heating above the preindustrial norm, which is As likelyEven with current climate pledges from the world’s governments, approximately 4% of the two million species found in the oceans will be eradicated.
The study found that marine mammals and fish living in polar regions are the most vulnerable. They won’t be able migrate to cooler climes like tropical species. Penn stated that they will have nowhere to go.
Climate change is increasing the dangers to aquatic life from over-fishing, pollution, and other threats. Based on data from the International Union for Conservation of Nature, the study found that between 10% and 15% of marine species are at risk of extinction due to these diverse threats.
John Bruno, a University of North Carolina marine ecologist, said that the new research seemed sound, but that it was different from previous studies. It suggests species will mainly disperse in new areas, rather than being completely eradicated.
It’s quite different from most of the previous work. Bruno said they are not wrong but that does not mean they are right. This new work challenges some of the assumptions we have about the geographical patterns of imminent extinction in the ocean.
Bruno stated that mass extinctions from extreme heat are possible in the future but that the current impacts of climate change and other threats should be enough to concern policymakers and the general public.
He said that he was more concerned about ecosystem degradation than the warming of 1C.
We don’t need to look at a world so heated that humanity has been exterminated. There are already untold losses of biodiversity and ecosystem functioning even with the relatively low warming over the past 50 years.