Rensselaer researcher links aquatic deoxygenation with the broader stability of Earth’s systems
Oxygen is a fundamental requirement of life, and the loss of oxygen in water, also referred to as aquatic deoxygenation, is a threat to life at all levels. In fact, in research recently published in Nature Ecology and Evolution, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute’s Associate Professor Kevin Rose, Ph.D. and his collaborators describe how ongoing deoxygenation presents a major threat to the stability of the planet as a whole.
“It’s important that aquatic deoxygenation be added to the list of Planetary Boundaries,” said Rose. “This will help support and focus global monitoring, research, and policy efforts to help our aquatic ecosystems and, in turn, society at large.”
Across all aquatic ecosystems, from streams and rivers, lakes, reservoirs, and ponds to estuaries, coasts, and the open ocean, dissolved oxygen (DO) concentrations have rapidly and substantially declined in recent decades. Lakes and reservoirs have experienced oxygen losses of 5.5% and 18.6% respectively since 1980. The oceans have experienced oxygen losses of around 2% since 1960 and, although that number is smaller, it represents a more geographically and volumetrically extensive mass. Marine ecosystems have also experienced substantial variability in oxygen depletion. For example, the midwaters off of Central California have lost 40% of their oxygen in the last few decades. The volumes of aquatic ecosystems affected by oxygen depletion have increased dramatically across all types.