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I think ecosystems are more interlinked than we realise, and perhaps conditions became more hostile to animal life on land too over time. Marine ecosystems got

I think ecosystems are more interlinked than we realise, and perhaps conditions became more hostile to animal life on land too over time. Marine ecosystems got wiped out quicker than land ones, perhaps because there is a tipping point in oceans beyond a certain level of acidification, temperature increase and oxygen depletion - after which marine life dies relatively fast, faster than it can evolve

bmitc 5y ago
The mention of oxygen depletion reminds me of an interesting development I recently learned of with Bryde’s whales off the coast of Thailand, although it seems more to do with direct pollution. Apparently, there’s been so much pollution from the rivers that the water is hypoxic and fish need to swim closer to the surface of water. So these whales have adapted to that adaptation by treading water and just leaving their mouths open. It’s just one of many visual signs that things are changing, seemingly at rapid pace, in the oceans. It’s a wonderful thing to see the whales finding such a technique and teaching it to others, but it’s scary at its core. https://www.scientificamerican.com/podcast/episode/polluted-water-whale-invents-new-feeding-strategy/ https://www.scientificamerican.com/podcast/episode/polluted-... https://youtu.be/-mVG6MtH-Kc https://youtu.be/-mVG6MtH-Kc