CLIMATE CHANGE AND HUMANS ARE DEVASTATING OUR OCEANS.

With destructive fishing methods such as explosives, gill netting, bottom trawling, drag lines and phenomenal by catch waste scientists are now reporting climate change is now creating further disasters for our marine world. In March 2021, a grisly scene materialized on the beaches of South Africa. Giant bat-winged manta rays sprawled belly up on rocks. Hulking bull sharks lay dead in the sand. Puffer fish littered shorelines like deflated footballs. Such fish kills are usually triggered by hot water, low oxygen, or toxic algae blooms. But this time it was a surprising culprit. In the middle of the southern summer, these fish died of cold—a phenomenon that may be linked to climate change, according to a new paper. At a time when global warming is driving ocean temperatures to record-setting highs and marine heat waves are striking around the globe, it might seem paradoxical that climate change could be linked to the underwater equivalent of a cold snap. But researchers now say that in some parts of the world, incidents like the 2021 cold spell appear to be getting more common as currents change, with potentially lethal consequences for marine life. The die-off in South Africa caught the attention of Australian shark researcher Nicolas Lubitz, then a Ph.D. student at James Cook University, who worked with a group of ecologists and oceanographers to piece together what happened and how it fit into broader oceanic trends. Their focus fell on the Agulhas Current, a fast-moving river of ocean water on the western edge of the Indian Ocean that sweeps southward along the coasts of Mozambique and South Africa. Normally that current brings warmer subtropical water farther south. But as it pushes up against the continental shelf, it can generate eddies, much like the revolving pools of water that form on the downstream sides of boulders in a river. As the eddy’s spin pulls water away from the coast, colder bottom water from as deep as 3 kilometers can be pulled toward the coast to replace it. Easterly winds can also push warmer surface water offshore, causing bottom water to rise. Weather and ocean conditions converged off South Africa with chilling results starting in late February 2021. Temperature data from satellites and buoys revealed that a large southbound eddy moving through the region, coupled with 4 days of strong easterly winds, fueled strong upwelling. Ocean surface temperatures along parts of the South African coast plunged by more than 7°C in 48 hours to as cold as 10°C. At one underwater temperature tracker near Port Alfred, on South Africa’s southeastern shore, temperatures fell by more than 9°C in a single day. The upwelling covered 230 kilometers of the ocean and lasted for a week. Every aspect of our world is changing rapidly but short term politicians are still bulking at the idea of drastic immediate change.