Giant dead zone can appear on the ocean in 2030

US researchers warn that climate change due to human impact is reducing the amount of oxygen in some ocean areas and can create new "dead zones" by 2030.

The amount of oxygen in the sea changes due to natural fluctuations. But warmer temperatures make it harder for seawater to adsorb and distribute oxygen. If carbon emissions continue to rise, global warming will inevitably lead to widespread oxygen concentrations across all regions, according to scientists at the US Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) in Colorado. Ocean.

Fish die mass in Mumbai, India due to gas suffocation.(Photo: AP).

"It is difficult to show the impact of humans unless the impact is so clear that it is beyond the range of natural fluctuations," Business Insider quoted Matthew Long, NCAR oceanographer and lead author of the study. .

Long and his colleagues used computer models to calculate the range of natural fluctuations and predict when human oxygen depletion began to take place. The research team published the findings yesterday in the American Journal of Geophysical Global Journal of Biochemistry.

In some environments, such as the Arctic, where temperatures are more than double that of other parts of the world and the tropical Atlantic, the process has begun, according to the study. Much of the Pacific Ocean will certainly experience a wide-ranging oxygen decline in 2030, while the northern Indian Ocean has little change at the end of the century.

"The process of deoxidizing oxygen in the oceans is ongoing and will continue at a faster rate if people continue to promote global warming , " Long said.

Redox caused by climate change will become popular by 2030 - 2040. (Photo: Matthew Long / NCAR).

"For a long time, people have thought that the ocean will not change and we can never influence such a large area. This study helps us realize our sphere of influence and cooperation. The dynamics of climate change are about to be global , " commented Keryn Gedan, marine ecologist at the University of Maryland.

Warming tropical waters raged by El Niño last year, leading to coral bleaching . Not only does it reduce dissolved oxygen levels, this phenomenon will inevitably threaten many marine life forms.

Another study published earlier this week on the Royal Society's Proceedings, points to the continental margin off the Pacific Ocean of the Americas and the Arabian Sea from Pakistan to southeastern Africa capable of turning into "the region." death". These are areas that lack oxygen and are acidified because the ocean absorbs a lot of CO ₂ from the atmosphere, which can destroy the marine ecosystem at depths of more than 200m.

Bleached coral reefs in the ocean between the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean.(Photo: Reuters).

These waters are also the places where human activities like fishing and oil production are most popular, said Lisa Levin, marine ecologist at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, co-author of the study.

"We rely heavily on fishing at the bottom of these areas. Species that contribute to the ecological diversity and environmental sustainability of the seabed can be vulnerable to ocean deoxidation and acid processes. Globalization and warming, they are also vulnerable to human influence , " Levin said.

According to Gedan, if an area has low oxygen levels, any changes will seriously affect the ecosystem. Large species of fish or organism can be removed, but small animals or corals will be in danger.

"We know shallow waters on the coast warm up faster than wide seas, especially estuaries. We are witnessing countless dead zones appearing around the world, and they will become increasingly popular." , Gedan said.