Global warming may soon suffocate humans; increasing ocean temperature could stop oxygen production

Earth could soon lose oxygen due to an increase in the ocean temperature as a result of global warming, a new study warns. Global warming could potentially stop the production of oxygen on the planet by disrupting photosynthesis, leading to possible deaths of all animals and humans.

The study, published in the Bulletin of Mathematical Biology, shows that the water temperature of oceans across the globe could increase to about 6°C. This could potentially disrupt the process of photosynthesis, preventing the oxygen production of phytoplankton.

Around two-thirds of Earth’s total atmospheric oxygen comes from ocean phytoplankton. When their production is interrupted, it could result in the depletion of atmospheric oxygen on a global scale. Some scientists predict that the event could occur as soon as 2100.

“This would likely result in the mass mortality of animals and humans," said lead researcher Sergei Petrovskii, a professor in Applied Mathematics from the University of Leicester.

Petrovskii said that the world already recognises the disastrous consequences of global warming and is considering that global flooding, from melting of Antarctic ice, is the “most notorious” threat to life on Earth. This could occur due to the increase of global temperatures above the pre-industrial level.

However, researchers said that depletion of Earth’s atmospheric oxygen could be a greater threat to the survival of life than the predicted flooding. “It now appears that this is probably not the biggest danger that the warming can cause to the humanity,” Petrovskii said.

The findings come from a new model of oxygen production in the ocean, developed by the researchers from the University of Leicester. The model takes into account basic interactions in the plankton community, including oxygen production in photosynthesis, oxygen consumption because of plankton breathing and zooplankton feeding on phytoplankton.

The researchers noted that most of the studies today are commonly focused on the effects of the increasing levels of carbon emissions, considered to be significantly contributing to global warming. However, there have been few researchers who have explored the impacts of global warming on oxygen production.

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