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https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/apr/28/global-warming-risks-cataclysmic-mass-extinction-marine-life>
"Global heating is causing such a drastic change to the world’s oceans that it
risks a mass extinction event of marine species that rivals anything that’s
happened in the Earth’s history over tens of millions of years, new research
has warned.
Accelerating climate change is causing a “profound” impact upon ocean
ecosystems that is “driving extinction risk higher and marine biological
richness lower than has been seen in Earth’s history for the past tens of
millions of years”, according to the study.
The world’s seawater is steadily climbing in temperature due to the extra heat
produced from the burning of fossil fuels, while oxygen levels in the ocean are
plunging and the water is acidifying from the soaking up of carbon dioxide from
the atmosphere.
This means the oceans are overheated, increasingly gasping for breath – the
volume of ocean waters completely depleted of oxygen has quadrupled since the
1960s – and becoming more hostile to life. Aquatic creatures such as clams,
mussels and shrimp are unable to properly form shells due to the acidification
of seawater.
All of this means the planet could slip into a “mass extinction rivaling those
in Earth’s past”, states the new research, published in
Science. The
pressures of rising heat and loss of oxygen are, researchers said,
uncomfortably reminiscent of the mass extinction event that occurred at the end
of the Permian period about 250m years ago. This cataclysm, known as the “great
dying”, led to the demise of up to 96% of the planet’s marine animals.
“Even if the magnitude of species loss is not the same level as this, the
mechanism of the species loss would be the same,” said Justin Penn, a climate
scientist at Princeton University who co-authored the new research."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
