Impacts on Oceans Need Urgent Attention in Climate Talks, Researchers Say

A series of studies highlighting the impact of global warming on the oceans also urges climate negotiators to appreciate their huge role.

Warming waters, rising sea levels, ocean acidification and changing water currents caused by climate change are having devastating effects on marine environments, scientists say.

But despite these effects, which researchers say will intensify and spread inland as the planet warms, oceans have not been a focus of international climate negotiations.  The authors of a set of five studies on oceans and climate change in a special issue of the journal Science published Thursday hope to change that. 

“The dynamics of the ocean really are key to understanding how well we are going to be able to adapt to future climate change,” said William Sydeman of the Farallon Institute for Advanced Ecosystem Research and lead author of one of five papers.  “Up until the last [Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change] assessment report, the oceans really have been largely neglected from the standpoint of impacts.”

The journal published the studies as scientists are calling for policy makers to focus on the world’s oceans during preparations for international climate negotiations in Paris that begin later this month.

Oceans cover nearly three-quarters of the earth’s surface, are home to untold biodiversity and provide a large proportion of the animal protein consumed by people worldwide.  Since the start of the Industrial Age, they have also absorbed roughly 25 percent of all human emissions of carbon dioxide and 80 percent to 90 percent of the associated heat increase.  It remains unclear, however, how much longer the oceans can continue to serve as a carbon and heat sink and what effect the resulting increases in ocean acidity and temperature will have on marine ecosystems.

In a review paper, Sydeman and colleagues assessed the impact of climate change on marine mammals, birds and fish in the world’s oceans.  They found that fish, which are ectothermic, or cold-blooded, are more susceptible to climate change, but even more adaptable mammals and birds face increasing challenges and may not be able to evolve quickly enough to avoid extinction.

Changes to the world’s oceans, including sea level rise, the oceans’ impact on global weather patterns and a potential decrease in the ability to absorb additional heat and carbon dioxide have implications that stretch far beyond marine environments.  A recent study suggests that sea level rise alone could displace 187 million people by 2100.Warming waters, rising sea levels, ocean acidification and changing water currents caused by climate change are having devastating effects on marine environments, scientists say.

But despite these effects, which researchers say will intensify and spread inland as the planet warms, oceans have not been a focus of international climate negotiations.  The authors of a set of five studies on oceans and climate change in a special issue of the journal Science published Thursday hope to change that. 

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