Global Warming Making Oceans Sick, Spreading Disease in Humans and Animals, Scientists Warn

Global warming is making the oceans sicker than ever before, spreading disease among animals and humans and threatening food security across the planet, a major scientific report said.

The findings, based on peer-reviewed research, were compiled by 80 scientists from 12 countries, experts said at the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) World Conservation Congress in Hawaii.

"We all know that the oceans sustain this planet.  We all know that the oceans provide every second breath we take," IUCN director general Inger Andersen said at the meeting, which has drawn 9,000 leaders and environmentalists to Honolulu.

"And yet we are making the oceans sick."

The report, Explaining Ocean Warming, is the "most comprehensive, most systematic study we have ever undertaken on the consequence of this warming on the ocean", co-lead author Dan Laffoley said.

The world's waters have absorbed more than 93 per cent of the enhanced heating from climate change since the 1970s, curbing the heat felt on land, but drastically altering the rhythm of life in the ocean, he said.
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Evidence warming causing plant, animal disease
More than 25 per cent of the report's information is new, published in peer-reviewed journals since 2014, including studies showing global warming is affecting weather patterns and making storms more common.

The study includes evidence ocean warming "is causing increased disease in plant and animal populations", it said.

Pathogens such as cholera-bearing bacteria and toxic algal blooms that can cause neurological illnesses such as ciguatera poisoning spread more easily in warm water, with direct impact on human health.

"We are no longer the casual observers in the room," Mr Laffoley said.

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