Global Fish Populations Heading For Serious Problems; Bacteria, Algae Likely Winners In Warming Seas

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ROME, Jan 9 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Failure to rein in global temperature rises could cause the marine food web to collapse, devastating the livelihoods of tens of millions of people who rely on fisheries for food and income, scientists have warned.

Warming oceans restrict vital energy flows between different species in the marine ecosystem, reducing the amount of food available for bigger animals - mostly fish - at the top of the marine food web, according to a study in the journal PLOS Biology published on Tuesday. This could have "serious implications" for fish stocks, said Ivan Nagelkerken, a professor of marine ecology at Australia's University of Adelaide and one of the study's authors.

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The Adelaide scientists set up 12 large tanks, each holding 1,800 litres of water, in a temperature-controlled room to replicate complex marine food webs, and test the effects of ocean acidification and warming over six months. Plant productivity increased under warmer temperatures but this was mainly due to an expansion of bacteria which fish do not eat, Nagelkerken said in a phone interview. The findings show that 2015 Paris agreement on curbing global warming must be met "to safeguard our oceans from collapse, loss of biodiversity and less fishery productivity."

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A Jan. 4 paper published in the journal Science said 'dead zones' - where oxygen is too low to support most marine life - more than quadrupled in the past 50 years due to human activities.

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http://news.trust.org/item/20180109190027-3iazl/

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1. And sea jellies, who are always winners.

Oh! And I almost forgot. Cephalopods! Yup! As PZ Myers often says, they will ultimately be our overlords.

Worship Cthulhu... NOW! You can be eaten first!

Have a nice day.

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2. Wag'l n'ghai n'ghai Cthulhu fhtagn!

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3. You can be eaten first!

A Jack Chick parody:


Have a happy day!

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4. One of the few occasions on which Jack Chick was successfully parodied

I mean, where do you begin?