The sea is also suffocating as a result of the increase in CO2 concentration as a result of warming

An increase in the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere causes a decrease in the concentration of oxygen in the waters of the oceans and an increase in "dead areas" poor in fish

An increase in the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere causes a decrease in the concentration of oxygen in the waters of the oceans and an increase in "dead areas". The phenomenon is especially extreme in the equatorial regions, the studies show that by the end of the century the dead areas in the tropical days will increase by 50%. The consequences and results of such an increase will be devastating Elimination of fish populations, damage to fishing grounds that today are considered the most productive, serious damage to the health of animals and plants in the sea and on its shores.

The supply of oxygen in the oceans is not equal, neither in depth nor in area, in large parts of the oceans in the equatorial regions, at a depth between tens and hundreds of meters, the oxygen concentrations in the water are very low, and therefore these areas are dead areas for most marine creatures, researchers hypothesize that these are the areas more sensitive to upheavals the climate. What moderates the dilution of oxygen in these areas are the currents from the north and south that mix the water, carrying oxygen and nutrients.

The research team of the Leibniz Institute of Marine Sciences in Kiel (Germany) led by Andreas Oschlies used a global model that combines: climate, Water circulation cycles in the oceans, biochemical cycles, to the model the team added calculations of external changing factors taken from studies on the effect of the DTP and nutrients on oxygen concentrations in the oceans.

The researchers concluded that "in a world rich in carbon dioxide, there will be little effect on the oceans in temperate, northern and southern regions". But "in equatorial regions, there will be a decisive effect on the oxygen content in the water to the point of dropping to a minimal level", 'oxygen-minimum' in growing regions where there will be more and more algae "blooms" that will develop due to high levels of carbon dioxide, the researcher compares the situation to eating food Junk food waste by the plants, when the excess carbon dioxide is likened to fat.

The algae that wither, die and rot, are eaten by bacteria that eat the oxygen first and then the rest of the nutrients, leaving a space devoid of food and oxygen.

Random measurements in the equatorial regions of the Atlantic and Pacific oceans have shown an increase in oxygen-free zones in the last fifty years, but so far the measurers have not considered the warming of the water or a slowdown in flows, data on the expansion of the oxygen-free zones pushed the researchers to examine how the warming and decreasing flows, combined with the increase in the levels of dioxide The carbon will affect marine biology.

The results of the tests are published in the journal Global Biogeochemical Cycles. Gian-Kaspar Plattner measures carbon dioxide at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zürich (ETH notes that so far the feedbacks that will be caused by the rise of carbon dioxide in the oceans have not been measured.

A 50% increase in low-oxygen areas is more than what various researchers predicted. In the meantime, the issue is being investigated by teams on two German research ships, one in the waters of Peru and one in the waters of West Africa, two areas that are rich in fish and are a significant source of supplying edible fish in the world. The inhabitants of the beaches in these areas make a living from fishing. In the meantime, the fishermen do not feel the change (for the worse) as schools of fish avoid the dead zones by moving up (or down) in the water column, but when the process continues the dead zones will not only expand but also thicken which will harm the livelihood and livelihood of millions of people.

And we haven't talked about the increase in the acidity of the water, the increase that comes from... the increase in the concentration of carbon dioxide, which affects all those who have a calcareous "skeleton", since the acidity causes the calcareous components in corals, oysters and others to dissolve.

The oxygen content in the oceans changed a lot in the past, towards the end of the Permian era about 250 million years ago, the oxygen content in the oceans dropped to a minimal level, which led to the mass extinction of life in the sea and on land. To prevent a similar extinction, solutions must be found to minimize the dead areas and the acidity of the oceans!