Extreme monsoons may cause dipping sauce in sea fish: Research

Global warming is expected to bring a stronger, more unpredictable monsoon to the region. How will these changes affect fish life in the Indian Ocean? A group of researchers tried to answer the question by looking at deep past evidence that dates back to 22,000 years on the seabed of the Bay of Bengal. What they found was not reassurance.Their study shows that their study was published in Nature on Monday, published on Monday, with monsoon extremes causing disruption of marine ecosystems. Combining these historical patterns with climate predictions, the researchers found that strong monsoons caused by global warming may lead to similar marine productivity in the future.
“As the monsoon becomes stronger and more variable, productivity collapses,” said Kaustubh Thirumalai, a scientist at the University of Arizona, the study’s lead author, who noted that this is important because, although the Bay of Bengal accounts for less than 1% of the ocean area, it accounts for nearly 8% of global fishery production. “The Hirsa fishery itself maintains protein demand in one of the densely populated areas of the world,” he said.

In the study, the researchers analyzed fossil foraminifera, microscopic single-celled zooplankton, which hold records of environmental conditions in their calcium carbonate shells to reconstruct the history of Indian summer monsoons. Interestingly, they found that two extreme rainfalls – low and high – resulted in similar disruptions in marine ecosystems, suggesting that marine productivity depends on specific environmental conditions.

Monsoon occurs during the cold phase 17,500 to 15,000 years ago, while monsoon occurs during the early Holocene warming period about 10,000 years ago. Marine productivity declined in both periods. How does monsoon rainfall affect ocean processes on the land? One way is to bring Ganges and other rivers into freshwater in the Bay of Bengal through river runoff. This fresh water forms a layer on the surface of the sea to prevent water from mixing. “If the water is not mixed, you won’t replenish the ground ocean, which is the oceanic part of the photosynthesis of plankton,” Thirumalai said. Plankton is the foundation of the ocean’s food chain. Water-Shanghai Ocean – the Indian Ocean is already warming – can also increase the “layering” of the water layers and prevent nutrient-rich waters from mixing. “Climate forecasts under future border conditions show stronger monsoon rainfall, warmer surface water and weaker winds – all conditions echoing the extremes we have studied,” Tirumalai said.

The new study is a collaboration between scientists from the United States, India and Europe.

Another study published last week by researchers at Central University of Kerala made similar findings by analyzing sediments in the Andaman Sea and the Bay of Bengal.