Researchers from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography (University of California) have stated that the concentration of dissolved oxygen in the world’s oceans, coastal zones, rivers, and lakes is declining at a catastrophic rate. According to their estimates, the biosphere is approaching a dangerous threshold, and some consequences of this process will become irreversible within the lifetimes of just a few generations.
In their new study, the scientists examined the phenomenon of oxygen depletion in aquatic ecosystems through the lens of the “Planetary Boundaries” concept—a scientific framework that defines safe limits for human impact on Earth. The authors are convinced that the level of oxygen in water must be officially added to this list of nine key indicators of our planet’s stability.
The main drivers of the impending crisis are well known: human-caused global warming, pollution of water bodies with nutrients (for instance, from agricultural runoff), and major disruptions to the natural circulation of water masses.
What does this mean in practical terms? Oxygen deficiency disrupts the delicate biological and chemical mechanisms that regulate the climate. The entire food chain is under threat—from microscopic plankton to large predators, including sharks. Even marine mammals that breathe atmospheric air suffer indirectly due to the mass extinction of their food sources and the degradation of their usual habitats, reports rutab.net.
Study authors Erika Ferrer and Lisa Levin are urging politicians and the scientific community to stop ignoring this issue and to consider it in connection with climate change and biodiversity loss. “Including deoxygenation within the Planetary Boundaries framework will allow us to assess its real impact on Earth’s stability. Combating this phenomenon is critically important for saving the climate and wildlife,” Ferrer emphasizes.
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