IUCN to Release Report on Ocean Deoxygenation Crisis

Researchers will unveil an embargoed report on a crisis facing ocean ecosystems at 9 a.m. Dec. 7, the second of two days emphasizing ocean issues at the COP25 climate talks taking place in Madrid, Spain.

The press conference will take place in the Mocha Press Conference Room in Hall 4 of the IFEMA center. Lisa Levin, a biological oceanographer at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego, joins International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) experts Dan Laffoley, John Baxter, and Minna Epps in a discussion of the new IUCN report “Ocean deoxygenation: Everyone’s problem."  

The IUCN describes the report as the largest peer-reviewed study to date of the causes, impacts, and potential solutions to ocean deoxygenation. Deoxygenation is one of several consequences caused by the warming of the oceans and introduction of pollutants such as fertilizers used on land.

The event is one of several Dec. 6 and 7 that are associated with Oceans Day, a period of time during COPs in which ocean-related climate issues are highlighted.

"Ocean deoxygenation is one of the most important but least recognized of the impacts of global warming on the ocean," said Levin. "For the first time, the cumulative knowledge of leading experts on oxygen loss has been assembled in one place. This report adds urgency to the emission futures being debated at COP 25. We have a clear choice!