The scientists of National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) in France have asserted the dangers of global warming on the ocean biodiversity even if United Nation meets its target of limiting the global temperature rise to below two degrees Celsius.

In a study published in the journal Nature Climate Change, the scientists claim that the oceans will undergo a significant biodiversity change as warmer waters would lead to migration towards poles or even extinction of cooler water species.

The scientists asserted, “If climate change is not tackled quickly, it will lead to a massive reorganization of marine biodiversity on a planet-wide scale”

Gregory Beaugrand, University of Science and Technology in Lille, northern France studied the effects of warming on the species in the upper 200 meters of the ocean as these species are exposed maximum to the perils of temperature rise.

The study examined biodiversity changes across three eras of Earth’s history; warmer mid-Pliocene, the much colder Last Glacial Maximum and the third period from 1960 to 2013 when man-made global warming registered a phenomenal growth. The scientists compared the warming in these three eras with the warming projections for 2100.

The researchers warned that under the current trends of severe warming, temperatures would touch a new high of 4.8 C this century alone and this will cause a drastic change in ocean biodiversity not seen in the last three million years.

The researchers claim that though the habitats of warm water species will expand, it will in no way compensate global species extinction.