Biotic and human vulnerability to projected changes in ocean biogeochemistry over the 21st century.

ABSTRACT: Ongoing greenhouse gas emissions can modify climate processes and induce shifts in ocean temperature, pH, oxygen concentration, and productivity, which in turn could alter biological and social systems. Here, we provide a synoptic global assessment of the simultaneous changes in future ocean biogeochemical variables over marine biota and their broader implications for people. We analyzed modern Earth System Models forced by greenhouse gas concentration pathways until 2100 and showed that the entire world's ocean surface will be simultaneously impacted by varying intensities of ocean warming, acidification, oxygen depletion, or shortfalls in productivity. In contrast, only a small fraction of the world's ocean surface, mostly in polar regions, will experience increased oxygenation and produ

SUBMITTER: Mora C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3797030 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature