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Polar bears and other marine ­species could be wiped out within 40 years as global warming continues to rapidly heat the world’s oceans, new research warns.

Experts have called for emergency action to cut emissions and use cleaner energy in a bid to save treasured wildlife from destruction.

The research predicts affected oceans will warm by 2.8C by 2100.

But life in Marine Protected Areas could start becoming extinct as early as 2050.

MPAs were set up as havens for threatened species such as polar bears and penguins.

But if ­emissions continue at the rate they are now, the areas will become ­“uninhabitable” because of a lack of food and living space. Coral reefs also face destruction.

Study chief Professor John Bruno, of the University of North ­Carolina at Chapel Hill, said: “With warming of this ­magnitude, we expect to lose many, if not most, animal species from Marine Protected Areas by the next century.

“To avoid the worst outcomes, we need to immediately adopt an emission reduction scenario in which emissions peak within two decades then decrease, replacing fossil fuels with cleaner energy sources like solar and wind.”

(Image: Daily Mirror)

The research, published in the journal Nature Climate Change, revealed there are 8,236 Marine Protected Areas around the world.

A separate study in the same journal found that the carbon ­footprint from global ­tourism is four times bigger than first thought.

Flights, eating out and buying souvenirs were among the contributors, researchers at University of Sydney revealed.

Small islands attract a huge share of ­carbon emissions, considering their ­tiny populations, because of regular arrivals of international flights. The US is responsible for the majority of tourism-generated emissions overall.

Tourism is already responsible for almost a tenth of global greenhouse gas emissions, according to the study – the first of its kind.