Due to the changing climate, the underwater world is getting ever noisier.
Due to the changing climate, the underwater world is getting ever noisier. That is the main conclusion of a study that was published today in the scientific journal PeerJ. "In some places, by the end of this century, the sound of ships, for example, will be five times as loud," the article's first author, NIOZ oceanographer Luca Possenti says. "That will interfere with the behavior of many species of fish and marine mammals."
Mathematical Model
The study was based on mathematical modeling in collaboration with Utrecht University and TNO, using a moderate or an extreme climate scenario by the UN climate panel IPCC. Both the temperature and acidity of the water affect how easily or difficult sound travels through the ocean. Because of ongoing emissions of greenhouse gasses, seawater becomes more acidic, and together with the rise in seawater temperature, the researchers anticipate that underwater sound will travel further in the future in most parts of the oceans.
Read more at Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research
Photo Credit: Pexels via Pixabay
