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Underwater oxygen loss threatens earth's stability, researchers warn
- pstuart 3mo ago[flagged]
- satellites 3mo ago[flagged]
- tomhow 3mo agoPlease don't sneer at imaginary commenters on HN. The guidelines make it clear we're trying for something better here. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
- Avicebron 3mo agoInstead of immediately making this an us vs them with theoretical climate deniers how about we focus on talking about how to improve science communication so that the article isn't something simultaneously dense and vague enough to be easily dismissed. I'll pick on the US, because blaming India and China will incite their little public defenders to bury the thread. The Gulf of Mexico is currently downstream of the US's crop production which dumps nitrogen and phosphorous into it, which is bad and causes problems like the article attempts to illustrate.
- pstuart 3mo ago> I'll pick on the US As you should. The current administration is partially owned by the fossil fuels industry and is literally paying to destroy existing and planned renewable energy sources. The agricultural runoff problem is an ecological crime scene. We could solve it if we weren't so corrupt.
- Avicebron 3mo agoIt's been a known issue since the 1980s. LUMCON/Rabalais, Farm Bill in 1995, 1997 Hypoxia task force, 2001 Action plan, 2008 Action plan, 2011 Stoner Memo... The point is being deranged about the current admin doesn't help the scenario. Every team (political group) fucked up royally, continues to fuck up, and only cares about how much money businesses are putting into their second home or their kid's trust fund.
- SlightlyLeftPad 3mo agoAh another very timely video from SmartEveryDay explaining this eloquently. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vS6HEes8daw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vS6HEes8daw
- actionfromafar 3mo agoThis admin is detaching from democracy and encourages a fact-free world. We will need those to fix climate change.
- jibal 3mo ago[flagged]
- conception 3mo agoOnly one is gutting the EPA.
- budsniffer952 3mo agoYeah, sure. Meanwhile pollutants and CO2 per person have been on a downward trend for decades. But two years of this admin has ruined in all? There is no hope unless we decide to do things globally. And until you are willing to "compel" countries who don't play along, it's not happening. So, no, shaming people or telling them to be afraid will not help.
- jibal 3mo ago[flagged]
- lstodd 3mo agodumping nutrients into ocean funnily helps ocean ecosystems to get more productive. who could have thought, eh?
- pstuart 3mo agoIt's not clear if you're just trolling or don't understand the problem. It's real, and documented: https://mississippiriverdelta.org/learning/explaining-the-gulf-of-mexico-dead-zone/ https://mississippiriverdelta.org/learning/explaining-the-gu... If it's a thirst for librul teers, sorry to disappoint you.
- lstodd 3mo agoSo what, it switches to low-oxy. It does not even hold long enough to develop an anaerobic biogeocenosis. This is normal. This is how our Earth the planet works. I do not know why you think only aerobic biota has a divine right to live. Do you now feel yourself not completely intellectually honest?
- SlightlyLeftPad 3mo agoI’m confused, why was parent flagged?
- pstuart 3mo agoAs the commenter, I'm assuming that my contention was "contentious". But it was true and commenters showed up to validate my assumption.
- piskov 3mo agoAre there actual measurements that even show this deoxygenation? For example, I clicked on the random link in that paper (referenced as a proof of river oxygen decline) — the article was not even based on some actual data log but fucking deep learning model (which may or may not work) https://www.nature.com/articles/s41558-023-01793-3 https://www.nature.com/articles/s41558-023-01793-3
- steve_adams_86 3mo agoYes, the organization I work for studies this phenomenon extensively. We measure pH, temperature, oxygen, flow, and many other factors related to ocean health, and over time, climate change. Hypoxia (and acidification) are emerging concerns. Article: https://tula.org/news/hypoxia-emerges-as-a-new-threat-on-canadas-pacific-shelf https://tula.org/news/hypoxia-emerges-as-a-new-threat-on-can... Research: https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2025GB008608 https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2025GB00...
- budsniffer952 3mo agoSorry, not going to be afraid. Do you think climate change wipes us out before some other natural disaster?
- toddmorey 3mo agoHave we ever as a species successfully changed our behavior on a scale needed to address something like climate change and underwater oxygen loss? What would be the closest “we’ve got to change or perish” moment we’ve successfully navigated?
- chasing 3mo agoOzone hole over Antarctica. It is possible for us to work together and fix these things. Edit: Moving away from leaded gas might be another example. (CFCs and leaded gas invented by the same dude, fun fact: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Midgley_Jr https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Midgley_Jr. Quite a legacy...)
- appreciatorBus 3mo agoWhen the costs are low and require no change in personal behaviour, nor even belief in the problem. Billions of people had no idea about changes to aerosol propellants or refrigerants and they were not required to know or agree in order to solve the problem.
- nemomarx 3mo agoDo people have to know about what generates their electricity? They get input now, but we could probably just stop taking public input on new infrastructure and that would avoid poorly motivated protests of wind farms or nuclear.
- Loughla 3mo agoStop taking public input on public infrastructure. That would go over life a lead balloon.
- nemomarx 3mo agoGood point - maybe also stop taking public input on decisions. :V I kid, but I get more sympathetic to totalitarian countries seeing how people react to some things too. it simplifies "banding together" if there's fewer decision makers I guess and I can't think of a good way to have that squared with democracy.
- sixtyj 3mo agoAs the link is university press release, here is study mentioned: https://aslopubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/lno.70434 https://aslopubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/ln...
- fenestella 3mo agoThe feedback loop between warming and deoxygenation is particularly concerning for deep-water systems that have been stable for millennia. If we hit the thresholds mentioned where the ocean's 'internal clock' is disrupted, it might permanently alter nutrient cycling beyond what current atmospheric models predict. I'm curious if any researchers here have insight into whether localized aeration tech could mitigate this in crucial spawning grounds, or if the scale is simply too vast.
- sixtyj 3mo agoOxygen loss already happens, see news about dead fish. Issue here is that becomes more common and underwater oxygen loss is approaching an “unsafe space” with impacts likely irreversible within human lifetimes, some of which could persist for centuries. Coastal “dead zones”, impact of fish food etc.
- deleted 3mo ago[deleted]
- hrldcpr 3mo ago"Irreversible on human timescales" is a nice succinct wording; I think I usually end up discussing that concept in a less clear / more roundabout way.
- lstodd 3mo agoNext post would be what: Human hubris as measured by UN Hubris Measuring Commitee now threatens to collapse the entire solar system into a purple hole? Can we please snap out of it and use something like if not common sense but at least a Fermi approach? Or did he die in vain?
- flockonus 3mo agoOxigen is ALSO, and perhaps in vast quantities produced at the bottom of the ocean, by lumps of metal that react with sea water (aka Dark Oxygen). Interestingly, there are now massive marine harvesting operations targeting that very ore. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/scientists-discover-dark-oxygen-on-the-ocean-floor-generated-surprisingly-by-lumps-of-metal-180984778/ https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/scientists-discove...
- rolph 3mo agoit wont matter how much oxygen you try to dissolve, if the temperature is too high you wont hold enough dissolved oxygen to allow aquatic life. https://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/gases-solubility-water-d_1148.html https://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/gases-solubility-water-d_...
- gerdesj 3mo agoNow look up the temperatures within the water column. I don't see any notes about pressure. Temperature is one axis ... Your charts show several "green house gases" and with some squinting and handwaving could be used to "prove" that the seas are mopping up those gases and saving the planet. I used to keep tropical fish and they somehow managed to survive in water temperatures way higher than the open seas. In an aquarium it is the surface water area (not volume) that generally decides how many fish can live within it. The surface area determines how much oxygen can be absorbed, Oxygenating plants help and agitating the surface increases the surface area - it does not "mix in" oxygen. My point is: That's all bollocks.
- smallerize 3mo agoThe note on pressure is near the top of the page. "at one atmosphere (101.325 kPa) ". How would we even move the pressure axis for the ocean? I have no idea what you're complaining about.
- rolph 3mo agosolubility of gases in water is a general phenomenon, yes water is solvent for a lot of things, and that exacerbates the situation, more gases, mean partial solubility rather than the whole solubility, so that would mean even less oxygen dissolved in a volume of water. you need to update your model of physical chemistry, there are a number of issues to your detriment. as temperature increases, gas solubility decreases across the board, solvent caging of water is inhibited at higher temperatures. the issue is not only oxygen. water must be solvent to ammonia, and CO2 to an extent compatible with physiology. it wont matter how much O2 is dissolved if you cant excrete your waste products. CO2 dissolved in water at quantity will convert partially to carbonic acid, lowering the pH of the water, and dissolving Ca++ Carbonate this means its harder to make a shell, and what shell you have is dissolving at an increased rate.
- contingencies 3mo agoTwo San Diego posts at once! https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49083314 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49083314 Go team!
- irishcoffee 3mo ago“Threatens earths stability” So do nukes. Or a series of earthquakes. Or a really bad set of solar flares. Or a world war. This just in, death threatens life. The internet sucks.
- deleted 3mo ago[deleted]
- andai 3mo agoA higher resolution version of the poster from the article: https://scx2.b-cdn.net/gfx/news/2026/underwater-oxygen-loss.jpg https://scx2.b-cdn.net/gfx/news/2026/underwater-oxygen-loss....
- rolph 3mo agoa primer regarding gaseous O2 soluability in water. https://academicpath.org/solubility-oxygen-water-temperature-salinity-ph https://academicpath.org/solubility-oxygen-water-temperature...
- t0mpr1c3 3mo ago> irreversible on human timescales It's almost like we might need that network of oceanic data collection sites. The one recently defunded by the Trump administration. https://oceanographicmagazine.com/news/trump-administration-dismantles-critical-ocean-floor-observation-network/ https://oceanographicmagazine.com/news/trump-administration-...