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Everyone here knows that Earth's atmosphere is polluted by greenhouse gas emissions that cause global warming. We also know our oceans are heating up at an alarming rate, fueling storms and floods and un-natural deadly disasters like we saw recently in Libya.

But that's not all. Because even our rivers are getting warmer, damaging biodiversity...
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Rivers are warming and losing oxygen faster than oceans, according to a Penn State-led study published in the journal Nature Climate Change. The study shows that of nearly 800 rivers, warming occurred in 87% and oxygen loss occurred in 70%.

"We know that climate change has led to warming and oxygen loss in oceans, but did not expect this to happen in flowing, shallow rivers," said Penn State Professor Li Li, corresponding author on the paper.

"If you think about it, life in water relies on temperature and dissolved oxygen, the lifeline for all aquatic organisms," said Li. "We know that coastal areas, like the Gulf of Mexico, often have dead zones in the summer. What this study shows us is this could happen in rivers as well, because some rivers will no longer sustain life like before."

She added that declining oxygen in rivers, or deoxygenation, also drives the emission of greenhouse gases and leads to the release of toxic metals. "This is a wake-up call."
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FULL ARTICLE -- https://phys.org/news/2023-09-rivers-rapidly-oxygen-aquatic-life.html

#Science #Environment #Pollution #Climate #ClimateChange #ClimateCrisis