World’s lakes and oceans are losing oxygen in a crisis that could hit fish prices

The world's oceans, lakes, rivers and coastal waters are steadily losing oxygen, creating what scientists describe as a growing global environmental crisis that threatens aquatic life, food security and the Earth's ability to regulate its climate. In a new review, researchers led by the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California San Diego warn that declining oxygen levels in aquatic ecosystems, a phenomenon known as aquatic deoxygenation, have become so widespread that they should be recognised alongside climate change and biodiversity loss as one of the planet's major environmental threats. The researchers argue that oxygen loss should be added to the Planetary Boundaries framework, a scientific model introduced in 2009 to identify the environmental systems essential for keeping Earth stable and habitable. According to the study, some of the damage caused by declining oxygen levels could persist for centuries and may not be reversible within human lifetimes.