Fish and chips could be off the menu within 30 years due to global warming

17 June 2019, 17:02

Fish and Chips could disappear from the nation's plates within three decades. Picture: GETTY

One of the nation's most loved dishes could be a thing of the past if global warming continues to wreck havoc with the planet.

Tucking in to a greasy plate of battered fish and chips has become a British tradition, with the typically newspaper wrapped meal becoming a weekly treat for many families - but that could all end within the next 30 years due to global warming.

Scientists predict that the declining populations of cod and haddock in the world's oceans could mean that the meal won't exist by the time we reach 2050.

Oxygen levels in the sea are decreasing through rising temperatures, which is slowly killing off the fish and leading to 'smaller fish' in the immediate future.

The study was carried out by the University of Plymouth, with marine zoologist Prof John Spicer describing the results as "a major cause for concern."

Climate change is having a huge impact on the fishing industry. Picture: GETTY

He added: "Many large species will almost certainly be the first casualties of our warming, oxygen-poor ocean."

Prof Spicer added: "Over the past 50 years, the oxygen in our oceans has decreased by around 2-5%. This is already having an effect on species’ ability to function... Unless they adapt, many larger marine invertebrates will either shrink in size or face extinction. This would have a profoundly negative impact on the ecosystems of which they are a part."

Dr Simon Morley, of the British Antarctic Survey, added: ‘Understanding these impacts will not only help us to predict the fate of marine biodiversity at the poles but teach us much about the mechanisms that will determine the survival of species.’

Other recent studies have claimed that the fish will shrink by up to a quarter by 2050.