Ocean "dead zones" — regions of the sea where oxygen is severely or entirely depleted and most forms of life can't survive — are becoming more numerous, and scientists warn that they will continue to increase unless we curb the factors driving global climate change, which is fueling this alarming shift in ocean chemistry.
This sobering view of the "suffocating" ocean was described in a new study, published online today (Jan. 4) in the journal Science. The study is the first to present such a comprehensive evaluation of ocean oxygen depletion and its causes. And less oxygen in the ocean doesn't just spell trouble for marine plants and animals — it could carry serious repercussions for life on land as well, the researchers cautioned. [Doomsday: 9 Real Ways Earth Could End]
A global investigation
A team of scientists from the Global Ocean Oxygen Network, a group formed by the United Nation's Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission in 2016, conducted the investigation, and they found that the toll on Earth's oceans has been significant.
Over the past 50 years, the ocean suffered a loss of about 85 billion tons (77 billion metric tons) of oxygen, affecting an accumulated area approximately the size of the European Union. Globally, the amount of zero-oxygen ocean water has quadrupled, while the area occupied by low-oxygen zones has increased by 10 times, the researchers discovered. In coastal areas and seas that are semi-enclosed, once low-oxygen conditions are established, they can persist for thousands of years, according to the study.
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