Researchers at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego have published their opinions regarding climate induced changes in the oceans food web. In earlier times researchers refer to the planet as a “Greenhouse World;” one where the oceans surface temperatures were high and competition between biological entities was strong. Rapid warming events during the Greenhouse World times were frequent and the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM) event period (about 56 million years ago) serves as a measure of prediction for the changes our ocean will undergo in the coming years. Mass extinctions were for the most part limited to the deep sea during the PETM as the warming event quickly increased the oceans temperature. The rapid recession of coral reefs we are currently seeing as a result of increasing surface temperatures is cause for more concern, according to paleobiologist Richard Norris and his colleagues. 
“In many respects the PETM warmed the world more than we project for future climate change, so it should come as some comfort that extinctions were mostly limited to the deep sea,” said Norris. “Unfortunately, the PETM also shows that ecological disruption can last tens of thousands of years.” The ominous outlook arrives on the heels of a review published August 2nd in the journal Science titled “Natural Systems in Changing Climates.” Read more here.… More:
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