Sea Life Affected By Low Oxygen Levels In Ocean Water
Researchers are warning of the true dangers that global warming is causing on the oceans that are affected by it. Sea life is becoming threatened and finding it difficult to survive as the oxygen levels in the sea is slowly decreasing due to the temperature of the ocean water. Because of global warming the oceans are becoming warmer.
Researchers stated that over the past 50 years the areas that are experiencing a decrease in low oxygen levels of the central and eastern equatorial Atlantic and equatorial Pacific oceans have expanded. Continued expansion of these zones could have dramatic consequences for both sea life and coastal economies, said the team led by Lothar Stramma of the University of Kiel in Germany. The finding was not surprising, Stramma said, because computer climate models had predicted a decline in dissolved oxygen in the oceans under warmer conditions.
Warmer water does not have the capability to absorb the amount of oxygen that cold water can – explained Gregory C. Johnson – the co-author of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory in Seattle. “There are complex biological and chemical interactions in these low-oxygen regions,” Stramma said, also adding that these need to be more carefully and closely studied. Frank A. Whitney of Canada’s Institute of Ocean Sciences said, “As oceans lose oxygen, this will reduce habitat for many organisms.”
“Many species will lose their deep habitat, meaning competition will become stronger in the remaining favorable habitat, and increased vulnerability to predation will likely occur,” said Whitney, who was not part of Stramma’s team.