After 40 years of observations, scientists noticed that the Atlantic Ocean surrounding Bermuda was warming and losing oxygen, as well as becoming increasingly salty and acidic. Researchers have been monitoring the water around Bermuda since 1983; It takes monthly samples to evaluate the physics, biology and chemistry of the surface and deep ocean.

The latest results from the project known as the Bermuda Atlantic Time Series Survey (BATS) show that the ocean water surrounding the islands in the 2020s has become almost unrecognizable compared to the range seen in the 1980s.

“We show that the surface of the subtropical North Atlantic Ocean has warmed by about 1°C over the past 40 years. Additionally, the ocean’s salinity has increased and it has lost oxygen. In addition, ocean acidity has increased from the 1980s to the 2020s,” said an ocean researcher at the Bermuda Institute of Oceanography. and Professor Nicholas Bates, a professor at Arizona State University’s School of Ocean Futures.

As expected, these changes in conditions are likely to harm the biodiversity of the region. Oxygen levels have fallen by 6 percent over the past four decades, which is not good news for aquatic life. In addition, increasing acidity levels by 30 percent affects animal health, such as the ability of organisms to maintain their shells.

Bermuda is a British overseas territory in the North Atlantic Ocean, consisting of approximately 200 islands and located approximately 1,770 kilometers off the coast of Miami. Perhaps the best known is the Bermuda Triangle, a sea region in the southwest of the islands that some claim is responsible for the disappearance of suspiciously large numbers of planes and boats under mysterious circumstances.

But solid statistics and fact-based research show that tales of the Bermuda Triangle are nothing more than urban legends. Rest assured, these recent sea changes around Bermuda won’t increase the likelihood of mysterious disappearances either.

But it highlights how much of the world’s oceans are undergoing drastic changes as a result of the deepening climate crisis. Similar monitoring stations can be found near Hawaii, the Canary Islands, Iceland and New Zealand. The researchers explain that they all observe the same alarming changes in ocean warming, salinization and acidification.

“These observations provide insight into the rate and chemistry of change in the recent past of ocean warming. They provide key indicators of changes in the coming decades. They also provide evidence of regional and global environmental changes and the existential challenges we will face as humans and societies in the near future,” explained Bates. New. The study was published in the journal Frontiers in Marine Science.