Sure but anthropogenic climate change is an issue of greenhouse gas accumulation rather than a lack of oxygen, no? Rather than there being too many people literally just using too much oxygen.
Photosynthesis by ocean-dwelling cyanobacteria produces around 1/3rd of oxygen IIRC. CO2 causes ocean acidification which reduces their ability to grow, thus limiting O2 production.
When it is hotter, plants ability to store carbon and photosynthesise goes down.
So not right now, but O2 will be cause for concern in the future if we don’t turn away from fossil fuels.
Thanks, I’d never really considered the impacts climate change would have on oxygen. I looked into this a bit and it seems to also be the case that rising ocean temperatures also reduce the capacity of the water to hold dissolved oxygen, which causes a nasty feedback loop.
So while there’s not an immediate risk of atmospheric oxygen concentration dropping by any significant amount, there is a real concern of oxygen concentrations in the oceans dropping pretty drastically. This then accelerates climate change even further and could have longer term effects on atmospheric levels as well.
Are we concerned about the amount of oxygen available now?
Well it did cause the first and largest mass extinction event so far…
Sure but anthropogenic climate change is an issue of greenhouse gas accumulation rather than a lack of oxygen, no? Rather than there being too many people literally just using too much oxygen.
CO^2 production consumes oxygen from the atmosphere; Carbon capture that doesn’t make oxygen will leave that issue alive and well.
I was joking. We wouldn’t be alive if that particular extinction even hadn’t happened.
Photosynthesis by ocean-dwelling cyanobacteria produces around 1/3rd of oxygen IIRC. CO2 causes ocean acidification which reduces their ability to grow, thus limiting O2 production. When it is hotter, plants ability to store carbon and photosynthesise goes down. So not right now, but O2 will be cause for concern in the future if we don’t turn away from fossil fuels.
Thanks, I’d never really considered the impacts climate change would have on oxygen. I looked into this a bit and it seems to also be the case that rising ocean temperatures also reduce the capacity of the water to hold dissolved oxygen, which causes a nasty feedback loop.
So while there’s not an immediate risk of atmospheric oxygen concentration dropping by any significant amount, there is a real concern of oxygen concentrations in the oceans dropping pretty drastically. This then accelerates climate change even further and could have longer term effects on atmospheric levels as well.