Could a single degree Celsius have a significant and irreversible influence on the seabed of the Southern Ocean? A group of scientists asked this and the answer was published in Current Biology.
He is about to end up run over, his mother saves himOnly one degree Celsius can affect the seabed of the Southern Ocean? A group of scientists asked this and the answer was published in Current Biology.
The effects of global warming they may be more serious than you think. Through a controlled experiment, a team of researchers increased the temperature of the Southern Ocean by only 1 or 2 degrees Celsius.
We know well that the marine ecosystem is at risk and in general the whole pristine environment of Antarctica with the melting of the ice could become a landscape of moss and grass.
According to a new study, the growth rates of colonizing mosses and worms in the seabed, with only one degree more, have doubled to the detriment of all living beings and biodiversity. Without considering that overheating brings with it the melting of the ice.
For nine months, through non-impacted instruments, a portion of the mar di Bellingshuan has been heated in anticipation that this in a few years, could become a reality due to greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.
Scholars, including Gail Ashton of the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, they did not expect these results to be achieved by heating the water only one degree. Like the frozen sea, with no pollution and fishing, very alive.
During the experiment one part was sectioned with panels, four heated the water by 1 degree, the other four by 2 and the other four maintained the real temperature. What emerged?
At 1 degree more the 'Fenestrulina rugula' moss has become dominant and the sea turbot has grown 70% more, compared to those in ambient conditions. At 2 degrees, numerous species have grown in the seabed around the Rothera Research Station.
All this could lead to a revolution of the ecosystem with the consequent disappearance of numerous specimens not accustomed to different temperatures, not to mention the destruction of the coral reef attacked by algae and moss.
The consequences of climate change:
- CLIMATE CHANGE: SEAS HIGHER THAN 1,3 METERS BY 2100
- GLOBAL WARMING VS CLIMATE CHANGE
- CLIMATE CHANGE: 4 POSSIBLE SCENARIOS OF INCREASING TEMPERATURES (INFOGRAPHIC)
The prediction of how organisms and entire communities respond to climate change in the future remains one important challenge, especially since these global temperature increases are expected within the next 50/100 years.
Dominella Trunfio
Foto: Gail Ashton
