A study released on Sunday suggests that fish are likely to get smaller on average by 2050 because global warming will cut the amount of oxygen in the oceans in a shift that may also mean dwindling catches.
Average maximum body weights for 600 types of marine fish, such as cod, plaice, halibut and flounder, would contract by 14-24 percent by 2050 in circumstances of the rapid rise in greenhouse gas emissions due to the burning of fossil fuels.
Life will become harder for fish in the oceans largely because warmer water can hold less dissolved oxygen, vital for respiration and growth.
Average maximum sizes of fish in the Indian Ocean were likely to shrink most, by 24 percent, followed by a decline of 20 percent in the Atlantic and 14 percent in the Pacific. The Indian Ocean has most tropical waters of the three.
_________________________________
Australia's Great Barrier Reef has lost more than half its coral cover in the past 27 years.
Researchers analysed data on the condition of 217 individual reefs that make up the World Heritage Site.
The results show that coral cover declined from 28.0% to 13.8% between 1985 and 2012.
They attribute the decline to storms, a coral-feeding starfish and bleaching linked to climate change.
No comments:
Post a Comment