logo
ResearchBunny Logo
Abstract
Global warming has driven a loss of dissolved oxygen in the ocean. This paper demonstrates that zooplankton consumption of microplastic reduces grazing on primary producers, potentially causing an additional anthropogenic driver of deoxygenation. In regions where primary production isn't macronutrient-limited, reduced grazing pressure increases export production and organic particle remineralisation, decreasing oxygen inventory. Using an Earth system model, the authors estimate this could decrease oxygen inventory by as much as 10% in the North Pacific and accelerate global oxygen loss by 0.2-0.5% relative to 1960 values by 2020. While significant uncertainty exists, this highlights a novel feedback between plastic pollution and ocean deoxygenation.
Publisher
Nature Communications
Published On
Apr 21, 2021
Authors
K. Kvale, A. E. F. Prowe, C.-T. Chien, A. Landolfi, A. Oschlies
Tags
global warming
ocean deoxygenation
zooplankton
microplastics
primary production
Earth system model
feedback mechanisms
Listen, Learn & Level Up
Over 10,000 hours of research content in 25+ fields, available in 12+ languages.
No more digging through PDFs, just hit play and absorb the world's latest research in your language, on your time.
listen to research audio papers with researchbunny