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Oceans Out of Balance

-- Adam -- 02/23/2007

Two Canadian news stories today highlight the shifts ocean ecosystems are experiencing due to increasing average temperatures. The Vancouver Sun article explores the relationship with increases in dead zones. Warmer water causes the metabolic rate of fish to increase and decreases the amount of oxygen that can be absorbed into solution.  The report notes that seasonal dead zones appear along the Pacific Coast during warmer months and may become more numerous as temperatures continue to rise. Meanwhile, according to CBC News, the Atlantic coastal waters are now subject to warming-induced decreases in salinity and shifts in currents. The result there has been explosions of species lower in the food chain, even as predatory populations decline. These "secondary" ocean impacts haven't received quite the attention as other related problems, but as both pieces demonstrate they still constitute major ecological shifts beyond what we have observed before.