A study by researchers at the University of British Columbia in Canada recently found that rising temperatures are pushing fish out of tropical areas and into northern climates.

As a major side effect of global warming, numerous fish and invertebrates will disappear from the tropics by 2050 due to hotter ocean temperatures. This could have major consequences for the tropical ecosystem as larger sea creatures have no more food supply. It’s an example of ocean desertification, in which rising temperatures decrease the amount and diversity of organisms in a habitat.

The researchers used the climate change data developed by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change to model their scenario for the future. If the ocean warmed only one degree Celsius by 2100, fish would move at a rate of 15 kilometers per decade- the best-case scenario. But if the ocean warmed three degrees Celsius by 2010, fish would migrate at a rate of 26 kilometers per decade- a disaster for tropical ecosystems.

According to William Cheung, co-author of the study and associate professor at the University of British Columbia, “The tropics will be the overall losers. This area has a high dependence on fish for food, diet and nutrition. We’ll see a loss of fish populations that are important to the fisheries and communities in these regions.”

In tropical communities that depend on fish, the results could be disastrous. Coastal areas in Bangladesh, India, and Indonesia could be hard-hit by a lack of fish, leading to malnutrition and possible starvation.

The study modeled how warming temperatures and changing habitats would affect over 800 species of commercial fish. The biggest losses occurred in the tropics, where fish were found to migrate northward  or southward in search of colder waters. According to the model, many fish populations would move towards the Arctic or Antarctic regions.

The study was published in the ICES Journal of Marine Science.