Similar to how activities on land have long involved spatial planning, promoting the sustainable growth of marine habitats is also required. Researchers are now demonstrating that marine planning needs to take climate change into account.
Impact of Climate change on Maritime habitat
Julia Fiander/Unsplash
A computer tool called Symphony has been around for a while. GIS maps are used to show the distribution of important ecosystems and species throughout Sweden's coastlines, as well as how ecological disturbances including nutrient pollution, boat traffic, and fishing affect the habitats in different areas, as per ScienceDaily.
The maps are intended to help public authorities as well as other parties involved in marine planning define priorities and take various actions.
One issue with Symphony as it stands now is that it doesn't take future climate change into account. Now that the tool has been modified to account for the potential changes in temperature and salt content, researchers working on the ClimeMarine project have analyzed what happens.
The GIS maps demonstrate how the impacts of climate change differ for various regions. Additionally, the method enables the identification of areas that are anticipated to be less impacted by climate change, such as so-called upwelling areas like those found off the coast of Gotland, wherein deep, cold water rise and cools the water at the surface. These places can serve as climate refugees, allowing vulnerable species to survive.
These projections necessarily have flaws, according to Per Jonsson, a researcher at the University of Gothenburg and co-author of the study.
Predictions of future temperatures and salt concentrations are based on mathematical models that are continuously improved and updated.
What will occur to our carbon dioxide emissions in the future is unknown. It's difficult to judge this political issue.
According to UN Climate Change, the ocean has long borne the brunt of the effects of human-caused global warming. The oceans have absorbed excess heat and energy produced through rising greenhouse gas emissions trapped within Earth's system since it is the largest carbon sink in the world. About 90% of the heat produced by growing emissions has already been absorbed by the ocean as of today, as per United Nations.
As the ocean warms from the surplus heat and energy, unheard-of cascading effects such as ice melting, sea level rise, marine heat waves, and ocean acidification result.
The possibility of marine and coastal ecosystems being permanently lost increases with rising temperatures. Widespread changes have been noticed today, including species migration to higher latitudes and altitudes where the water may be cooler, as well as harm to coral reefs and mangroves that support marine life.
According to the most recent predictions from the UN Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization, more than half of all marine species could become extinct by the year 2100.
60% of the world's marine ecosystems are thought to have already undergone degradation or are being utilized in an unsustainable manner with the current global temperature increase of 1.1°C.
A 1.5°C warming threatens to obliterate 70-90% of coral reefs, while a 2°C rise means a loss of nearly 100%, marking a point of no return.
