London : Earth’s oxygen could dramatically fall due to change in ocean temperature of just several degrees, which may likely result in the mass mortality of animals and humans, a new study has claimed, reports PTI.
Falling oxygen levels caused by global warming could be a greater threat to the survival of life on Earth than flooding, according to researchers from the University of Leicester in the UK.
The study has shown that an increase in the water temperature of the world’s oceans of around six degrees Celsius – which some scientists predict could occur as soon as 2100 – could stop oxygen production by phytoplankton by disrupting the process of photosynthesis.
“About two-thirds of the planet’s total atmospheric oxygen is produced by ocean phytoplankton – and therefore cessation would result in the depletion of atmospheric oxygen on a global scale. This would likely result in the mass mortality of animals and humans,” said Professor Sergei Petrovskii.
