Black Sea on the brink of death: Expert

TRABZON

With the risk of drought, insufficient snowfall and temperatures rising above seasonal norms, marine life in the Black Sea has been adversely affected, and the number of fish has decreased, warns an expert.

Geological Engineer Prof. Dr. Osman Bektaş stated that global climate change has started to drag the Black Sea to death.

“The Black Sea has a unique structure. It consists of three layers. The upper layer is an environment up to 50 meters high, with plenty of oxygen, where marine species reside. There is a cold intermediate layer below it, an intermediate layer with a temperature of 8 degrees Celsius. Under the intermediate layer, at the bottom, there is an environment where toxic gases prevail, and no creatures live.”

Noting that there is no oxygen in the waters below 150-200 meters and that the bottom of the sea is loaded with hydrogen sulfide, Bektaş said that the middle layer of the waters plays a vital role in constantly cooling the upper layer and acting as an “air conditioner.”

“Since the upper layer heated by the sun’s rays is cooled by the cold middle layer below, it is constantly rich in oxygen and has circulation. However, after the 1960s, this middle layer started to lose its properties due to global climate change. With the decrease in cold waters coming from the north, this layer gradually began to weaken,” he said.

Pointing out that in the future, the bottom layer rich in toxic gases will mix towards the top and threaten the life above, Bektaş said that this situation cannot be stopped or reversed.

“When the upper layer is constantly getting warmer, evaporation starts, and we see floods and landslides on land with the effect of evaporation,” he explained.

Meanwhile, Suat Paşalı, a fisherman, stated that the number of fish in the Black Sea decreases every year, as snow waters do not meet with the sea and cool the water down.

Trabzon Fisheries Cooperative President Mehmet Candeğer said that the fishing sector has almost come to an end because of pollution, overfishing and overhunting.