Warming in shallow rivers

River Gorge in Elgeyo Marakwet County. [Jayne Rose Gacheri, Standard]

Rivers are warming and losing oxygen faster than oceans, according to a Penn State-led study published on Thursday in the journal Nature Climate Change. The study shows that of nearly 800 rivers, warming occurred in 87 percent and oxygen loss occurred in 70 percent.

The study also projects that within the next 70 years, river systems, especially in the American South, are likely to experience periods with such low levels of oxygen that the rivers could "induce acute death" for certain species of fish and threaten aquatic diversity at large.