Close X
Thursday, January 9, 2025
ADVT 
International

Global warming leads to oxygen depletion in oceans

Darpan News Desk IANS, 16 Oct, 2014 10:53 AM
    A study to track oxygen levels in global oceans has revealed that the oxygen levels in oceans have come down due to global warming.
     
    By combining chemical analyses with micropaleontology - the study of tiny fossilized organisms - researchers have tried to better understand how global marine life was affected by a rapid warming event more than 55 million years ago.
     
    "Global warming impacts marine life in complex ways, of which the loss of dissolved oxygen (a condition known as hypoxia) is a growing concern" said Zunli Lu, assistant professor of earth sciences from the Syracuse University, New York in the US.
     
    By analyzing the iodine-to-calcium ratios in microfossils, the study could estimate the oxygen levels of ambient sea water, where micro-organisms once lived.
     
    "It is difficult to predict future deoxygenation that is induced by carbon emissions, without a good understanding of our geologic past," added Zunli Lu.
     
    This type of deoxygenation leads to larger and thicker oxygen minimum zones (OMZs) in the world's oceans, found the study.
     
    An OMZ is the layer of water in an ocean where oxygen saturation is at its lowest.
     
    "By comparing our fossil data with oxygen levels simulated in climate models, we think OMZs were much more prevalent 55 million years ago than they are today," Zunli said.
     
    Lu's work is centred around Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM), a well studied analogue for modern climate warming.
     
    Deoxygenation, along with warming and acidification, had a dramatic effect on marine life during the PETM, prompting mass extinction on the seafloor, concluded Zunli.
     
    Their findings appeared in the journal Paleoceanography.

    MORE International ARTICLES

    US slaps sanctions on Pakistan-based terror groups

    US slaps sanctions on Pakistan-based terror groups
    The US Tuesday targeted two terrorist groups based in Pakistan by slapping sanctions on their leader and financial supporters....

    US slaps sanctions on Pakistan-based terror groups

    World must come together to challenge terrorism, says Modi

    World must come together to challenge terrorism, says Modi
    Prime Minister Narendra Modi Monday described terrorism as the greatest danger, as he called for the world to come together to challenge its menace....

    World must come together to challenge terrorism, says Modi

    Ninteenth Indian jailed for Singapore riots

    Ninteenth Indian jailed for Singapore riots
    Ravi Arun Vengatesh, 25, a quality control supervisor, became the 19th Indian to be convicted for the riots, the Straits Times...

    Ninteenth Indian jailed for Singapore riots

    Search for MH370 resumes Wednesday

    Search for MH370 resumes Wednesday
    Search teams will resume the hunt for the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 off the Australian coast Wednesday, media reported....

    Search for MH370 resumes Wednesday

    Independence of MH17 investigation crucial

    Independence of MH17 investigation crucial
    Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte Monday emphasised the importance of an independent investigation into the MH17 jet crash in eastern Ukraine....

    Independence of MH17 investigation crucial

    World's fourth largest sea dried up completely: NASA

    World's fourth largest sea dried up completely: NASA
    Aral Sea - the giant lake between Kazakhstan in the north and Uzbekistan in the south - has dried up completely, says NASA....

    World's fourth largest sea dried up completely: NASA