Fish And Chips Could Be Off The Menu Soon Due To Climate Change

New information about the world’s oceans has been reported as posing a threat to the seafood industry and an Aussie family favourite.

Fish and chips could be off the menu by 2050 due to global warming, reports the NY Post, citing a University of Plymouth study.

According to nypost.com:

Scientists say larger marine species including cod and haddock face being wiped out as rising temperatures reduce oxygen levels in the oceans.

Analysis of crustaceans found in Antarctic waters found that they got smaller in size when levels of the gas were lower — showing that bigger creatures are more vulnerable to climate change.

Previous studies have suggested that haddock and cod will shrink in size by up to a quarter by 2050.

The University of Plymouth later reiterated its study did not relate to cod and haddock.

But according to the research, oxygen concentrations in both the open ocean and coastal waters have declined by 2-5% since at least the middle of the 20th century:

“This is one of the most important changes occurring in an ocean becoming increasingly modified by human activities, with raised water temperatures, carbon dioxide content and nutrient inputs.

“Through this, humans are altering the abundances and distributions of marine species but the decline in oxygen could pose a new set of threats to marine life…

“Marine invertebrates with larger body size are generally more sensitive to reductions in oxygen than smaller animals, and so will be more sensitive to future global climate change.”