Aquatic ecology

Extreme heat waves have led the temperature of the Marmara Sea to spike significantly, causing the oxygen levels in the sea to decline and gravely impact the marine ecosystem, says an expert.

This past June was the hottest June globally on record in terms of sea and air temperatures, according to a statement by the EU-backed Copernicus Climate Change Service.

"The month was the warmest June globally at just over 0.5°C above the 1991-2020 average, exceeding June 2019 - the previous record - by a substantial margin," the Copernicus report said.

Almost all essential wetlands in Türkiye have experienced dramatic loss, while the area of wetlands that disappeared in the last 60 years has reached 2 million hectares, approximately one and a half times the size of the Marmara Sea, says a report by the Nature Association.

In addition to the construction materials in the debris waste, wood, electronic, plastic and metal materials might become a pollution mechanism that threatens the nature and the health of living species in a wide area by mixing with soil and water, says a Greenpeace report.

Millions of fish have washed up dead in southeastern Australia in a die-off that authorities and scientists say is caused by depleted oxygen levels in the river after recent floods and hot weather.

Residents of the Outback town of Menindee in New South Wales state complained of a terrible smell from the dead fish.

Millions of dead and rotting fish have clogged a vast stretch of river near a remote town in the Australian outback as a searing heatwave sweeps through the region.

Videos posted to social media showed boats ploughing through a blanket of dead fish smothering the water, with the surface barely visible underneath.

Following a voyage to determine the effects of pollutants in the Marmara Sea, a team of 11 sailors and nine scientists has warned that the oxygen at the lowest layers of the sea is at the level of complete depletion.

Last month saw the lowest extent of Antarctic sea ice on record for July, according to the European Union's satellite monitoring group.

The Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) found Antarctic sea ice extent reached 15.3 million square kilometers - some 1.1 million km2, or seven percent, below the 1991-2020 average for July.

Parts of Australia's beleaguered Great Barrier Reef now have the highest levels of coral cover seen in decades, a government report said Thursday, suggesting the aquatic wonder could survive given the chance.

As efforts to prevent marine mucilage, a thick layer of glop that invaded the Marmara Sea last year, continue with the participation of authorized institutions, a detailed report prepared by a committee set up in the Turkish parliament was presented to Parliament Speaker Mustafa Şentop.