Researchers from McGill University have raised concerns about the future of oceans after conducting a study that looked into the pasts of these oceans.
Global warming and nitrogen run-offs from fertilizers have been causing serious damage to oceans, marine life and coastal zones. After conducting a study that looked into the past of oceans, researchers from McGill University have raised concerns about the future of oceans. The study looked into the changes that have occurred in the nitrogen cycle of oceans since the end of the last ice age. This nitrogen cycle is known to be a crucial component of ocean chemistry. Scientists found that though oceans are capable balancing the nitrogen cycle on a global scale, this process is slow and may take centuries. The slow speed of this process has raised concerns in the authors of the study about effects of the scale and speed of current changes in the ocean.
Prof. Eric Galbraith from McGill University's Department of Earth and Oceanic Sciences and also the lead author of the study said in a press release that this was the first research of its kind, which can help scientists determine how oceans responded to slow, natural climate warming as the world emerged from the last ice age. He also stated that the findings of the study clearly proved that the nitrogen cycle of oceans was very sensitive to climatic changes.
Just as proteins are needed by the body to keep it from falling sick, nitrogen is absolutely essential for the health of an ocean as it is an integral component of the global ocean metabolism. This nitrogen in carried throughout the ocean by marine bacteria through a complicated cycle that keeps the ocean healthy.
After analysing sediments gathered from the ocean floor in different areas of the world, researchers found that the nitrogen cycle of oceans began to accelerate at the same time as the ice sheets started melting and the climate warmed up at the end of the last ice age, 18,000 years ago. The oceans stabilized itself and adapted to warmer temperatures and a faster nitrogen cycle about 8,000 years ago. Given the rapid climatic changes taking place globally, scientists worry about how long it would be before oceans can get accustomed to the new weather conditions.
"We are changing the planet in ways we are not even aware of," says Galbraith. "You wouldn't think that putting carbon dioxide into the atmosphere would change the amount of nitrogen available to fish in the ocean, but it clearly does. It is important to realize just how interconnected everything is."
The study was published online in Nature Geoscience.
