Current Events > World's oceans are losing oxygen at dangerous, unprecedented rate

(+) Yeah! (+)

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/worlds-oceans-are-losing-oxygen-at-a-dangerous-unprecedented-rate-as-temperatures-rise/

The world's oceans are struggling to breathe, rapidly running out of oxygen at an unprecedented rate. Climate change is dangerously exacerbating the issue, scientists warned in a new study.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) released the largest report of its kind combining the efforts of 67 scientists from 17 countries at the global climate summit in Madrid on Saturday. It found that the oxygen level of the ocean has declined by about 2% since the 1950s, and the volume of water completely depleted of oxygen has quadrupled since the 1960s.

Sixty years ago, only 45 ocean sites suffered from low oxygen levels. That number skyrocketed to 700 in 2011. According to the study, about 50% of oxygen loss in the upper part of the ocean is a result of temperature increase.

"With this report, the scale of damage climate change is wreaking upon the ocean comes into stark focus," Dr. Grethel Aguilar, IUCN acting director general, said in a statement. "As the warming ocean loses oxygen, the delicate balance of marine life is thrown into disarray."

A combination of climate change and increased nutrient discharge will cause a 3%-4% decrease in ocean oxygen levels on average by 2100 if business continues as usual, scientists predict.

"This is perhaps the ultimate wake-up call from the uncontrolled experiment humanity is unleashing on the world's ocean as carbon emissions continue to increase," said Dan Laffoley, Senior Advisor Marine Science and Conservation in IUCN's Global Marine and Polar Program and a co-editor of the report.

Researchers named two major causes of deoxygenation:
- Ocean warming from burning fossil fuels: Warmer oceans hold less oxygen and are more buoyant than cooler water. This makes it difficult for oxygen to make its way to deeper waters and raises the oxygen demands of sea creatures.
- Excessive growth of algae (eutrophication): Plant life is rapidly growing due to fertilizer run-off into waterways, sewage, animal waste, aquaculture and nitrogen deposition from the burning of fossil fuels. The increased plant life leads to a lack of oxygen and higher animal mortality rates.
Ocean deoxygenation has a wide range of consequences on marine biodiversity and the everyday functioning of ocean ecosystems.

"Whilst we have known about dead zones in the ocean for many decades, ocean warming is now expected to further amplify deoxygenation across great swathes of the ocean," said Isabella Lvin, Minister for Environment and Energy and Deputy Prime Minister of Sweden, a major funder of the report. "With this report it is time to put ocean deoxygenation among our top priorities in order to restore ocean health."

Reductions in oxygen levels in the ocean can cause stress in marine organisms, depriving them of the necessary oxygen supply. According to researchers, deoxygenation is threatening larger species including tuna, marlin, swordfish and sharks.

Larger marine animals are swimming closer to the surface, where oxygen is more available, but this leaves them prone to overfishing. Hundreds of millions of people who rely on fishing for their food and livelihood may be affected as they struggle to adapt.

"If we run out of oxygen it will mean habitat loss and biodiversity loss and a slippery slope down to slime and more jellyfish," said IUCN Global Marine and Polar Programme director Minna Epps. "It will also change the energy and the biochemical cycling in the oceans and we don't know what these biological and chemical shifts in the oceans can actually do."

In addition to the socioeconomic impacts on humans, deoxygenated waters produce greenhouse gases, including carbon dioxide and methane, that are eventually released into the atmosphere. Greenhouse gas levels in the atmosphere reached a record high in 2018, according to the World Meteorological Organization.

In order to fix the issue of deoxygenation, scientists say humans must quickly tackle the climate crisis globally, as well as nutrient pollution at the local level through legislation to reduce runoff. Scientists warn that warming-driven deoxygenation cannot easily be reversed, but it can be slowed by reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

The report was released during COP25 because world leaders are crucial to changing outcomes for the oceans.

"Urgent global action to overcome and reverse the effects of ocean deoxygenation is needed," Epps said. "Decisions taken at the ongoing climate conference will determine whether our ocean continues to sustain a rich variety of life, or whether habitable, oxygen-rich marine areas are increasingly, progressively and irrevocably lost."

---

We're doomed.

---

Of course, "climate change doesn't exist". Especially since the environmental problems are worse then ever (trash, pollution) and recycling is at an all time low, since after the 80s and 90s, recycling centers have been disappearing, not expanding..

---

Now... is this good

---

If only the dissolution of oxygen in water weren't exothermic
---

wormwyrmwyvern posted...

We're doomed.

Permafrost is about to become an obsolete term.

---

The planet Venus is hotter than Mercury, and it's the not the closest to the Sun.

Wonder why?

---

wormwyrmwyvern posted...

We're doomed.

---

I guess the only choice left is to cripple society. Come on guys no more cows or aeroplanes, the oceans demand it!

---

Should we kill the cows to save the oceans?

Duncanwii posted...

I guess the only choice left is to cripple society. Come on guys no more cows or aeroplanes, the oceans demand it!

Society as it is today is toxic.

---

MI4 REAL posted...

Society as it is today is toxic.

Nah.

---

just blow more air into it

Just gonna say, nothing i have said regarding climate change has been wrong so far. You guys arent going to like what happens to society in the next 2 decades.

---

Rika_Furude posted...

Just gonna say, nothing i have said regarding climate change has been wrong so far. You guys arent going to like what happens to society in the next 2 decades.

I won't.

I don't like what has already happened now.

---

Thanks boomers

---

Kaiganeer posted...

just blow more air into it

This is actually feasible.

---

Duncanwii posted...

Nah.

I'm offended, I think you should leave this planet. Better yet....(if I said the rest, I'd get insta-banned)

(This is an exaggeration, and I actually do not mean the previous statement. I exaggerate to prove a point)

---

So inject the ocean with oxygen how hard is that fucking dumb scientits

---

MI4 REAL posted...

Of course, "climate change doesn't exist". Especially since the environmental problems are worse then ever (trash, pollution) and recycling is at an all time low, since after the 80s and 90s, recycling centers have been disappearing, not expanding..

Recycling is an unintuitive process that causes more pollution than it solves except for Aluminum / other metals which is the only material we can recycle for a net positive.

If the problem is plastic in the ocean we just need to stop using plastic. In general we should just stop using disposable anything unless it's biohazard material.

---

Rika_Furude posted...

Just gonna say, nothing i have said regarding climate change has been wrong so far. You guys arent going to like what happens to society in the next 2 decades.

I'll be stone cold dead by then.

---

Tyranthraxus posted...

Recycling is an unintuitive process that causes more pollution than it solves except for Aluminum / other metals which is the only material we can recycle for a net positive.

If the problem is plastic in the ocean we just need to stop using plastic. In general we should just stop using disposable anything unless it's biohazard material.

That's biodegradable, not biohazard.

And the first sentence is only about money. It literally doesn't pay to recycle, unless it's metals.

---

MI4 REAL posted...

I'm offended, I think you should leave this planet. Better yet....(if I said the rest, I'd get insta-banned)

(This is an exaggeration, and I actually do not mean the previous statement. I exaggerate to prove a point)

I think you believe you have a point but in reality you are just overcompensating from some conceived slight that society has caused.

---

Vindris_SNH posted...

So inject the ocean with oxygen how hard is that fucking dumb scientits

Someone doesn't understand thermodynamic equilibrium
---

Tyranthraxus posted...

If the problem is plastic in the ocean we just need to stop using plastic.

Lol good luck with that. Literally everything is made of plastic. We'd need to completely overhaul how we make products to do away with it and that isnt happening anytime soon.

---

MI4 REAL posted...

That's biodegradable, not biohazard.

And the first sentence is only about money. It literally doesn't pay to recycle, unless it's metals.

No I meant biohazard, like tampons, band-aids, etc.

Biodegradable stuff is intended to be thrown out, not recycled.

And it's not just a money issue, the energy used for the recycling centers & factories to make the chemicals that do things like strip the ink off paper have an overall larger CO2 footprint than making new stuff from raw materials.

Plastic is the worst in this regard since not all plastics are compatible with each other but they all end up in the same recycling bin. Additionally, you can't really mix the colors of plastic either.

---

Duncanwii posted...

I think you believe you have a point but in reality you are just overcompensating from some conceived slight that society has caused.

Then what is my oversight then?

---

Tyranthraxus posted...

No I meant biohazard, like tampons, band-aids, etc.

Biodegradable stuff is intended to be thrown out, not recycled.

And it's not just a money issue, the energy used for the recycling centers & factories to make the chemicals that do things like strip the ink off paper have an overall larger CO2 footprint than making new stuff from raw materials.

Plastic is the worst in this regard since not all plastics are compatible with each other but they all end up in the same recycling bin. Additionally, you can't really mix the colors of plastic either.

I used to work at a recycling center. They could only take #1 and #2 plastics, due to how they were crystallized. If you see a recycling system and a number, it's anything between 1-8.

---

Tyranthraxus posted...

No I meant biohazard, like tampons, band-aids, etc.

Biodegradable stuff is intended to be thrown out, not recycled.

And it's not just a money issue, the energy used for the recycling centers & factories to make the chemicals that do things like strip the ink off paper have an overall larger CO2 footprint than making new stuff from raw materials.

Plastic is the worst in this regard since not all plastics are compatible with each other but they all end up in the same recycling bin. Additionally, you can't really mix the colors of plastic either.

Biohazard material is generally incinerated.

---

Duncanwii posted...

Lol good luck with that. Literally everything is made of plastic. We'd need to completely overhaul how we make products to do away with it and that isnt happening anytime soon.

We do not have to completely overhaul things. We just need to fix the disposable stuff. We've already basically overhauled how we do straws. We are beginning to change how we do groceries packaging / bagging. You can get plant-resin versions of a lot of disposable dishes / cups.

It's okay for a computer you're using for 6 years to be made from plastic.

---

Duncanwii posted...

Lol good luck with that. Literally everything is made of plastic. We'd need to completely overhaul how we make products to do away with it and that isnt happening anytime soon.

Plastic is inherently good, but it's become far too common because of cost-cutting.

"paper or plastic" is no longer an option in stores.

---

MI4 REAL posted...

Biohazard material is generally incinerated.

Yes but that's side tangent to my point. If it's going to be a biohazard it should be disposable. If it's not going to be a biohazard then it shouldn't be disposable.

---

Tyranthraxus posted...

We do not have to completely overhaul things. We just need to fix the disposable stuff. We've already basically overhauled how we do straws. We are beginning to change how we do groceries packaging / bagging. You can get plant-resin versions of a lot of disposable dishes / cups.

It's okay for a computer you're using for 6 years to be made from plastic.

Yes. But it's gotten out of hand.

Back then they made stuff out of real wood instead of particle board, for example.

---

Tyranthraxus posted...

Yes but that's side tangent to my point. If it's going to be a biohazard it should be disposable. If it's not going to be a biohazard then it shouldn't be disposable.

Definitely. Biohazardous material is destined to be burned, that's the safest way.

---

MI4 REAL posted...

Then what is my oversight then?

Your mistake was the common narccissistic idea that society as a whole is a bad thing because you have been personally slighted in some way. You need too look past the Facebook crowd and see the bigger picture.

---

Duncanwii posted...

Your mistake was the common narccissistic idea that society as a whole is a bad thing because you have been personally slighted in some way. You need too look past the Facebook crowd and see the bigger picture.

There are tens of thousands of scientific papers out there describing how fucked we are, versus only a couple dozen that disagree. Facebook has nothing to do with it.

Duncanwii posted...

Your mistake was the common narccissistic idea that society as a whole is a bad thing because you have been personally slighted in some way. You need too look past the Facebook crowd and see the bigger picture.

I don't use social media.

---

Is this duncans attempt at his idea of humour

---

Rika_Furude posted...

Is this duncans attempt at his idea of humour

humo(u)r

You foreign accent is showing.

Seriously though, you're right.

---

shockthemonkey posted...

Were fucked

Basically.

---

This is fine.

---

At least a handful of people were able to live super great with multiple summer homes and yachts.

---

shockthemonkey posted...

Were fucked

Pretty much.

From an outsider's perspective, humans are basically an infestation on the planet, and the planet as it is now can't take it anymore. Eventually, things are going to bottom out.

---

Goddamn why does Duncan choose to be this way
---

Good thing we dont live underwtaer, check ate science!

---

Bio1590 posted...

Goddamn why does Duncan choose to be this way

Idk. I understand that the only way he has of coping with news like this is just to pretend like it all isn't real, but I don't know why he feels the need to loudly express that to everyone else.

---

Solar_Crimson posted...

Pretty much.

From an outsider's perspective, humans are basically an infestation on the planet, and the planet as it is now can't take it anymore. Eventually, things are going to bottom out.

for all the "intelligence" we have, we basically act like an invasive species.

there is no way around this unless we invent some miraculous technology at this point. the options is we are fucked, or we are fucked by a chainsaw. more or less the same thing happened during the cambrian extinction event which CO2 rises and ocean oxygen became so rare

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cambrian%E2%80%93Ordovician_extinction_event


---

wormwyrmwyvern posted...

What's even the point of being alive when the world is going to end within the next decade?

People say this and yet they keep on living.
---

konokonohamaru posted...

People say this and yet they keep on living.

If I wasn't afraid to die I'd have offed myself years ago.

---