Oxygen – a colourless gas that is present in the air that’s responsible for allowing Earth to be inhabitable by complex aerobic life.
What if we are getting less and less of it?
Well… that’s exactly what’s happening to our oceans right now due to climate change and global warming.
Before we dive deep on how this translates to dire consequences to marine life, global environment, and human life, let’s talk about how and why this global catastrophe is happening.
First off, there is the level of dissolved oxygen – a measure of how much oxygen is present in water. Just like humans and other animals on land, ocean animals large and small rely on oxygen molecules in water in order to ‘breath’.
Since cold water holds more DO than warm water, the oxygen levels in oceans have dropped by up to 40% in the last 50 years due to the rise in water temperatures, with the loss being most significant in tropical regions.
Moreover, a third of manmade carbon dioxide emissions being absorbed by the ocean, the ocean is also getting more and more acidic.
With lower dissolved oxygen levels and rising acidity, the ocean is gradually becoming a less habitable place for marine animals. Leading to significant redistributions of aquatic life demographic and food chain dysfunctions as animals are forced to seek refuge in areas that are more habitable… causing a massive decrease in marine biodiversity as a result.
(Just imagine if oxygen stops being available 2 streets down the block and everyone needs to relocate or end up suffocating…).
Amongst all the aquatic life being affected, corals, coralline algae and different groups of oceanic plankton are some of the most heavily affected organisms. Due to the increase in acidity reducing their ability to form shells and skeletons, even causing existing shells to begin to dissolve.
With oceanic plankton responsible for producing an estimate of 50-80% of the world’s oxygen through photosynthesis, the decrease in plankton population will eventually lead to oxygen levels to decrease in both in and out of our oceans.
In the presence of lowering oxygen levels and ocean acidity, marine food chains, coral reef ecosystems, phytoplankton population and overall marine biodiversity are being severely affected. All this translates to the decrease of human’s access to the ocean’s resources, let it be for food, recreation or medicine.
The most important thing we hope to establish is how personally connected we are to the ocean, and the vital role marine ecosystems play in our daily lives. So that we can raise awareness and set an intention to protect our oceans for a brighter future.
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