“Deoxygenation” is a process documented by international scientists and published in the journal Science, in a scientific article that reports a 4 to 10-fold increase in oceanic areas with little or no oxygen.
Alarming news, as half of the Earth’s oxygen originates from the ocean.
The depletion of oxygen could lead to the death of most marine life. In just 50 years, the area of the open ocean lacking oxygen has grown more than four times.
This paper is the first to analyze both oceanic and coastal waters, which are often studied separately.
What is the cause of this serious decrease in oxygen? There are two causes that cause it, according to the researchers.
The first one has to do with temperature. Hot water contains less oxygen. Therefore, when the temperature of the waters increases, the concentration of oxygen in them decreases. The greatest loss of oxygen occurs between 90 and 670 meters deep, and we must bear in mind that some areas of the ocean reach 11 kilometers deep.
Also, rising surface temperatures make it more difficult for oxygen to reach relatively deep areas of the ocean.
Second, excess nutrients from agriculture and wastewater cause excessive algae growth.
What are the consequences of this reduction of oxygen in the oceans? Obviously, a lack of sufficient oxygen can stunt growth in animals, damage reproduction, and cause disease or death. In addition, it can cause the emission of a greenhouse gas called nitrous oxide into the air (up to 300 times more powerful than carbon dioxide).
The problems derived from the lack of oxygen in the oceans are already beginning to be perceived. An example is corals, which are already stressed and bleached from rising sea surface temperatures and can also be adversely affected by a lack of oxygen.
The lack of oxygen in the oceans could end up affecting the planet’s global biodiversity. It must be remembered that, as if the planetary damage were not enough, the lack of oxygen in the marine environment also directly affects the devastation of human livelihoods. According to the researchers, this is one of the most serious effects of human activities on the Earth’s environment. “
