Sections
Log in
Top News
U.S. News World News Featured Voices
Odd News
Entertainment
Movies Music TV
Sports
Soccer NFL NBA MLB
Photos
News Entertainment Sports Features
More...
Defense Featured Science Health Video Archive Almanac
About Feedback Privacy Policy
About Feedback Privacy Policy
Search
Science News
Nov. 25, 2019 / 1:30 PM

Rising ocean temps reshaping communities of fish, other marine species

By
Brooks Hays
New research suggests warm-water species are becoming dominant in many parts of the world as ocean temperatures continue to rise. Photo by Norm Diver/Shutterstock

Nov. 25 (UPI) -- Marine ecosystems are being reshaped by rising ocean water temperatures, according to a new study.

For the new research, scientists analyzed millions of records on thousands of species living in 200 different ecological communities. The effort was the largest yet to examine the effects of rising water temperatures on the mix of species living in the ocean.

The data showed the mix of fish, crustacean and plankton communities are being dramatically altered, and that these changes are likely to have significant impacts of commercial fisheries.

"The changes we're observing ripple throughout local and global economies all the way to our dinner plates," Malin Pinsky, an associate professor marine ecology at Rutgers University-New Brunswick, said in a news release. "We found dramatic evidence that changing temperatures are already reshaping communities of ocean organisms."

RELATED Sediment is a greater threat to small freshwater species than fertilizer runoff

Ocean temperatures in some parts of the world remain stable, including the Northeast Pacific and Gulf of Mexico. In such places, species dominance hasn't changed. But elsewhere, like throughout the North Atlantic, warming trends have precipitated the increasing dominance of warm-water species.

Researchers published the results of their analysis on Monday in the journal Nature Climate Change.

"We found that warm-water species are rapidly increasing and cold-water marine species are decreasing as the global temperature rises," said Pinsky, co-author of the new study. "Changes like this are often disrupting our fisheries and ocean food chains."

RELATED Melting Arctic ice accelerates spread of deadly virus in marine mammals

According to the study, scientists found evidence that many marine communities have demonstrated a resiliency against climate change, but that more research is needed to better understand how ecosystems will respond to warmer conditions moving forward.

"We're now trying to understand how the changes we see in the ocean compare with those on land and in freshwater ecosystems," said Pinsky.

RELATED New study finds most important marine areas aren't protected

RELATED DNA analysis details relationships between coral, algae and bacteria

Latest Headlines

SpaceX Dragon docks with International Space Station
Science News // 1 hour ago
SpaceX Dragon docks with International Space Station
Dec. 8 (UPI) -- The SpaceX Dragon cargo spacecraft containing 5,700 pounds of cargo arrived at the International Space Station on Sunday morning.

Report: Oceans losing oxygen at rapid rate due to climate change, pollution
Science News // 14 hours ago
Report: Oceans losing oxygen at rapid rate due to climate change, pollution
Dec. 7 (UPI) -- The world's oceans are running out of oxygen, threatening many species of fish, says a new report from the conservation group IUCN.

Checkerboard of unharvested corn in snowy North Dakota seen in NASA image
Science News // 1 day ago
Checkerboard of unharvested corn in snowy North Dakota seen in NASA image
Dec. 6 (UPI) -- NASA's Landsat 7 satellite revealed a unique checkerboard-like pattern of unharvested corn across South Dakota caused by a combination of weather and agricultural phenomena.

Healing the ozone layer helped slow global warming
Science News // 1 day ago
Healing the ozone layer helped slow global warming
Dec. 6 (UPI) -- New research suggests the Montreal Protocol helped slow global warming. Chlorofluorocarbons, a class of chemicals that destroy the ozone layer, are also greenhouse gases.

School cafeterias waste 530K tons of food per year
Science News // 1 day ago
School cafeterias waste 530K tons of food per year
Dec. 6 (UPI) -- A new study by the World Wildlife Fund suggests schools in the United States are generating hundreds of thousands of tons of post-service food waste every year.

Resilient, opportunistic plants are most invasive threat, study shows
Science News // 1 day ago
Resilient, opportunistic plants are most invasive threat, study shows
Dec. 6 (UPI) -- Previously, scientists thought plants with the fastest growth rates posed the greatest threat, but new research suggests plants that quickly rebound in the wake of disruption are most likely to invade foreign soil.

Volcanic rock movements caused dramatic shift in climate 55 million years ago
Science News // 2 days ago
Volcanic rock movements caused dramatic shift in climate 55 million years ago
Dec. 5 (UPI) -- New research suggests the rise of massive amounts of magma in Earth's crust can trigger periods of dramatic warming.

Calving to leave Thwaites Glacier increasingly vulnerable to collapse
Science News // 2 days ago
Calving to leave Thwaites Glacier increasingly vulnerable to collapse
Dec. 5 (UPI) -- New research suggests that once the Thwaites Glacier's ice shelf is gone, the glacier's flow toward the ocean, and its subsequent breakup, is likely to accelerate dramatically.

Early climate change models were pretty accurate, study finds
Science News // 2 days ago
Early climate change models were pretty accurate, study finds
Dec. 5 (UPI) -- Early climate models get a bad wrap for being imprecise, but new research suggests they were surprisingly accurate.

Atmospheric rivers cost American West $1 billion a year in flood damage
Science News // 3 days ago
Atmospheric rivers cost American West $1 billion a year in flood damage
Dec. 5 (UPI) -- Atmospheric rivers, long bands of water vapor carried west to east across the Pacific Ocean by fast high-altitude winds, have cost the Western United States billions in flood damage over the last four decades.

Trending Stories

Report: Oceans losing oxygen at rapid rate due to climate change, pollution
Report: Oceans losing oxygen at rapid rate due to climate change, pollution
SpaceX Dragon docks with International Space Station
SpaceX Dragon docks with International Space Station
Checkerboard of unharvested corn in snowy North Dakota seen in NASA image
Checkerboard of unharvested corn in snowy North Dakota seen in NASA image
School cafeterias waste 530K tons of food per year
School cafeterias waste 530K tons of food per year
Data from Parker Solar Probe helps unravel sun's mysteries
Data from Parker Solar Probe helps unravel sun's mysteries

Photo Gallery

 
Moments from the 15th UNICEF Snowflake Ball
Moments from the 15th UNICEF Snowflake Ball

Latest News

Gary Sinise Foundation treats more than 1,000 Gold Star families to Disney trip
New Delhi factory fire kills at least 43 workers while sleeping
SpaceX Dragon docks with International Space Station
Jimmy Fallon, Paul Rudd, James Corden drop by for 'SNL' NATO cafeteria sketch
Famous birthdays for Dec. 8: Nicki Minaj, Teri Hatcher
 
Back to Article
/
Back to top
About UPI Contact Feedback Advertisements Submit News Tips
Copyright © 2019 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Terms of UsePrivacy Policy