According to a newly published paper, the rapid increase of acidity in the oceans due to the rise of greenhouse emissions poses a great threat to the global food chain. Disruption of the world food chain can, in turn, result in the destruction of humanity.
The authors of the paper, who are reasearching ways that can provide access to clean water at the University of Edinburgh, argue that even the slightest increase in acidity can have profound impact on the ocean's eco systems. Such impact will then result in environmental changes at a global scale.
The data suggests that a more acidic ocean can dissolve away essential compounds that make up organisms such as plankton, coral reefs along with the elements those organisms need to survive. And while these organisms will eventually be replaced by other species that can survive in a more acidic environment, these will not be well-suited to provide a basis for the world food chain as it currently stands. This means that the food supply on which more than 3 billion people depend will disappear.
The impact that climate change has on the oceans is already devastating the rest of the planet. The authors note that toxic microbes, which build up in the sea, will poison the atmosphere when these are blown out from the ocean and into the air by powerful winds.
Given that it is hard to monitor the oceanic microbes that life on Earth depends on, the paper asserts that we must take action immediately if we are to be able to inhabit our planet in the decades to come.
[h/t: Futurism]
COMMENTS