Hidden effects of warming ocean water uncovered: It's worse than we thought

In Short

• The team of international researchers developed a new method to to determine the consequences

• The international consortium of marine scientists unearthed additional critical biological responses

• The study forecasts a potential comprehensive impact on fish and invertebrate species

The marine ecosystem is more affected than we had previously anticipated as global warming hits oceans across the world.

Researchers in a new paper have confirmed that fish and invertebrate animals are far more affected by warmer and more acidic seawater than was previously known. The details have been published in the journal Nature Communications.

“To gain a better understanding of the overall worldwide impact of climate change, marine biologists calculate its effects on all fish or all invertebrate species lumped together. Yet, effects determined in different individual studies can cancel each other out: for example, if invertebrate animals such as snails profit from a certain environmental change and other invertebrates, such as sea urchins, suffer from it, the overall effect for invertebrates is concluded to be zero, although both animal groups are affected,” Lead author Katharina Alter of the Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research explained.