Long-term impacts of carbon dioxide emissions on the oxygen content in the world's oceans

A new study from the GEOMAR Helmholtz Center for Ocean Research Kiel has found that even if all of the global carbon dioxide emissions were stopped immediately, the oxygen content in the world's oceans would continue to drop for centuries, which would have major impacts on ocean life.

Coral and fish in the Red Sea. Egypt, Africa

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Long-term warming of the Earth from greenhouse gas emissions has also caused most of the world's oceans to warm. When the water warms there is less solubility of gases such as critical oxygen into the ocean water. There is also a slowdown in the overturning movement of the ocean, which reduces ventilation, according to the GEOMAR report.

The study noted that this long-term decline in oxygen is mainly occurring in the deeper layers of the ocean.

In the last 50 years, about 2 percent of the total inventory of oxygen in the oceans has been lost.

In the upper layers of the ocean, suddenly halting all greenhouse gas emissions would have a much more immediate impact. Further expansion of near-surface oxygen minimum zones would be able to be stopped within a few years.

This report was recently published in the journal Nature Communications.