To date, assessment of deep ocean (below 2000 m) heat content has mostly been from ship-based data collected along decadal repeats of oceanographic transects (Figure 5.4b) (Talley et al., 2016114). While relatively sparse in space and time compared to the upper ocean, these transects were positioned to optimise sampling of most deep ocean basins and provide the highest quality of salinity, temperature and pressure data. Argo floats capable of sampling to 6000 m have just started to populate select deep ocean basins; this Deep Argo data has just started providing regional deep ocean warming estimates (Johnson et al., 2019115). Decadal monitoring by the full global Deep Argo array (Johnson et al., 2015116), complemented by indirect estimates from space (Llovel et al., 2014117; Von Schuckmann et al., 2014), will strongly reduce the currently large uncertainties of deep ocean heat content change estimates in the future.
The deep seafloor is assessed here as the vast area of the ocean bottom >200 m deep, beyond most continental shelves (Levin and Sibuet, 2012; Boyd et al., 2019) (Figure 5.15). Below 200 m changes in light, food supply and the physical environment lead to altered benthic (seafloor) animal taxonomic composition, morphologies, lifestyles and body sizes collectively understood to represent the deep sea (Tyler, 2003).
Stranded Deep Mac Download 2019
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Most deep seafloor ecosystems globally are experiencing rising temperatures, declining oxygen levels, and elevated CO2, leading to lower pH and carbonate undersaturation (WGII AR5 30.5.7; Section 5.2.2.3). Small changes in exposure to these hazards by deep seafloor ecosystem have been confirmed by observation over the past 50 years. However, analysis using direct seafloor observations of these hazards over the past 15-29 years suggest that the environmental conditions are highly variable over time because of the strong and variable influences by ocean conditions from the sea surface (Frigstad et al., 2015; Thomsen et al., 2017). Such high environmental variability makes it difficult to attribute observed trends to anthropogenic drivers using existing datasets (Smith et al., 2013; Hartman et al., 2015; Soltwedel et al., 2016; Thomsen et al., 2017) (high confidence). Projections from global ESMs suggest large changes for temperature by 2100 and beyond under RCP8.5 (relative to present day variation) (Mora et al., 2013; Sweetman et al., 2017; FAO, 2019). The magnitude of the projected changes is lower under RCP2.6, and in some cases the direction of projected change to 2100 varies regionally under either scenario (FAO, 2019) (high confidence).
Widespread attributes of deep seafloor fauna (e.g., great longevity, high levels of habitat specialisation including well-defined physiological tolerances and thresholds, dependence on environmental triggers for reproduction, and highly developed mutualistic interactions) can increase the vulnerability of selected taxa to changing conditions (FAO, 2019) (medium confidence). However, some deep sea taxa (e.g., foraminifera and nematodes) may be more resilient to environmental change than their shallow-water counterparts (low confidence). Observations, experiments and model projections indicate that impacts of climate change have or are expected to take place in this century, indicating a transition from undetectable risk to moderate risk at
Although demersal fisheries in the deep ocean represent a small proportion of global fisheries catches, they are economically valuable for some countries, and there is increasing commercial interest in mesopelagic (deep pelagic ocean) fisheries (St. John et al., 2016). Commercially-exploited fish and shellfish from deep sea ecosystems will be exposed to climate risks from physical and chemical changes in ocean conditions including warming, decreased oxygen, reduced aragonite saturation state, and decreased supply of particulate organic matter from the upper ocean (Section 5.2.3, 5.2.4) (FAO, 2019). These biogeochemical changes may reduce the growth, reproduction and survivorship of deep-ocean fish stocks, which will alter their distributions, in similar ways to those in the surface ocean, impacting their fish catch potential (FAO, 2019). For example, in the eastern Pacific near-bottom oxygen concentration is positively correlated with biomass of commercially harvested species (Keller et al., 20101248) and catch per unit effort (Banse, 19681249; Rosenberg et al., 19831250; Keller et al., 20151251); some commercially harvested species only appear during oxygenation events associated with El Niño (Arntz et al., 20061252). In the mesopelagic zone, expansion of the OMZ results in habitat compression that can increase catchability of fish stocks such as tunas (Prince et al., 20101253; Stramma et al., 20111254). Also, as OMZ expands, the potential may exist for increased availability and harvest of hypoxia-tolerant species such as Humboldt squid (Dosidicus gigas), thornyheads (Sebastolobus spp.) or dover sole (Microstomus pacificus) (Gilly et al., 20131255; Gallo and Levin, 20161256). However, any expansion of the OMZ will interact with other climatic hazards such as warming, which then adds to the overall risk of impacts on fish stocks and their catches (Breitburg et al., 20181257). Overall, the abundance of fisheries resources and potential catches from the deep sea will be at high risk of impacts in the 21st century under RCP8.5 (low confidence), with reduced risk under RCP2.6 (medium confidence).
The risk of microplastics has become a major concern for the ocean as they are highly persistent and have accumulated in many different marine environments, including the deep sea (Woodall et al., 2014; GESAMP, 2015; van Sebille et al., 2015; Waller et al., 2017; de Sá et al., 2018; Everaert et al., 2018; Botterell et al., 2019). There is limited evidence at present to assess their risk to marine ecosystems, wildlife and potentially humans through human consumption of seafood under climate change.
In the open ocean, the biological carbon pump is driven by the combination of photosynthesis by phytoplankton and downward transfer of particulate carbon by a variety of processes (Henson et al., 20101636; DeVries et al., 20171637); it results in large-scale transfer of around 10 GtC yr-1 carbon from near-surface waters to the ocean interior (Boyd et al., 20191638). Most of this carbon is respired in the mesopelagic and contributes to the 37,000 GtC inventory of DIC, with around 0.1 GtC yr-1 eventually being permanently removed in deep sea sediments (Cartapanis et al., 20181639). In addition, the microbial carbon pump (Jiao et al., 20101640) produces refractory dissolved organic molecules throughout the water column at a rate of around 0.4 GtC yr-1 (Jiao et al., 2014b1641), which due to their residence time of hundreds to thousands of years maintain the 700 GtC inventory of dissolved organic carbon in the ocean (Jiao et al., 20101642; Jiao et al., 2014a1643; Legendre et al., 20151644; Jiao et al., 2018a1645). The natural removal of carbon by the various carbon pumps is closely balanced by upwelling and outgassing, with the ocean a moderate source of CO2 under pre-industrial conditions (Ciais et al., 20131646). The mitigation potential of managing natural processes in the open ocean is only briefly assessed here (Section 5.5.1.3).
Less still is known about how climate change will affect the deep oceans and its fisheries (Section 5.2.3 and 5.2.4), the vulnerability of its habitats to fishing disturbance and future effects on resources not currently harvested (FAO, 2019). Johnson et al. (2019) concluded that in a 20- to 50-year timeframe, the effectiveness of virtually all north Atlantic deep water and open ocean area-based management tools can be expected to be affected. They concluded that more precise and detailed oceanographic data are needed to determine possible refugia, and more research on adaptation and resilience in the deep sea is needed to predict ecosystem response times. 2ff7e9595c
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