Marine •

In what could be termed as the worst effect of degrading climatic conditions and global warming, a new study has showed that fish in large numbers will disappear from the tropics by 2050.

The researchers at Canada’s University of British Columbia carried a study to examine how the climate change and rising temperatures are influencing fish stocks. During the study, they found that the rising temperatures are going to drive more fish into the waters of Antarctic and Arctic.

The study group incorporated the same climate change scenarios as applied by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change in order to project a shift of marine fish and invertebrates on a large-scale.

If the oceans face worst scenarios and warm by three degrees Celsius by 2100, then these aquatic creatures could migrate from their present habitats to another region at a rate of 26 kilometres per decade.

On the other hand, if the Earth’s oceans warm by one degree Celsius under the best-case scenario then the marine fish would move 15 kilometres every decade.

“The tropics will be the overall losers. This area has a high dependence on fish for food, diet and nutrition. We’ll see a loss of fish populations that are important to the fisheries and communities in these regions,” said William Cheung, study co-author and associate professor at the UBC Fisheries Centre.

The study researchers used modeling method to find out how 802 species of fish and invertebrates of commercial importance react to the changing dynamics of oceans, warming water temperatures, changing ocean properties and the new habitats that will be opened at the poles.

The study was detailed in ICES Journal of Marine Science.

Marine experts from a University of Vermont have conducted an investigation suggesting the importance of 13 types of extraordinary whale.

The latest study believes that whales show huge positive impact on the globe’s carbon storage and has a good impact on health when it comes to fisheries.

It has to be noted that scientists and researchers in the past has suggested that whales are excessively uncommon and are least likely to have any effect on the marine, ocean environment.
The study distributed in the journal Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment declares whales as the “engineers” of the oceans and curators of the deep.

Baleen and sperm whales, known collectively as the “great whales,” include the largest animals to have ever lived on Earth. They eat many fish and invertebrates, and distribute nutrients in the ocean and their carcasses, dropping to the seafloor also provide as habitat for many species of animals.

“Among their many ecological roles, whales recycle nutrients and enhance primary productivity in areas where they feed,” said Joe Roman, who is a biologist at the University of Vermont. Whales do this by feeding at depth and releasing fecal plumes near the surface — which supports plankton growth — a remarkable process described as a “whale pump.”

He said that the ability of whales to recover can help improve predictability and stability of marine ecosystems.

“The decline in great whale numbers estimated to be at least 66 percent and perhaps as high as 90 per cent, has likely altered the structure and function of the oceans, but recovery is possible and in many cases is already underway,” Roman and his colleagues wrote in the journal.

“The continued recovery of great whales may help to buffer marine ecosystems from destabilizing stresses,” the researchers wrote. This recovered role may be especially important as climate change threatens ocean ecosystems with rising temperatures and acidification.

Modern technology like radio tagging made it possible for the scientists to study the impact of whales on the ecology. This new research could help researchers gain insights into the benefits whales accommodate marine biological ecosystem.

The ten researchers who co-authored the paper expects the study to enhance the understanding into the matter.

Marine fish, invertebrates to disappear from tropics due to Rising Temperature

Scientists Declare Whales as ‘engineers’ of the Sea

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