Pacific threat: 80 percent of fish set to be wiped out as ocean temperatures surge
November 17, 2017
Pacific Island nations are expected to lose 50 to 80 percent of fish species by the end of the century.
The alarming number was published in a study by the Nippon Foundation-Nereus Program in Marine Policy. The oceans in the Pacific Islands in particular, according to the study, are expected to be the most severely affected by climate change in the next century. These waters are already the warmest of the global ocean, and with less seasonal variability, animals in this area may be more shocked by changing conditions.
“As a result,” co-author William Cheung, director of science at the Nereus Program, said in a statement, “these changes in oceanic conditions are not inevitable, but instead depend on the immediate actions of all countries to materialize their commitment to limit greenhouse gas emissions as is being discussed in COP23 in Bonn, Germany this week.”
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