Warming Climate Displaces Marine Species

Warming Climate Displaces Marine Species

March 2007 - European marine species 
are feeling the effects of global warming, new research 
reveals. Atlantic species are beginning to inhabit the more 
northern seas where Arctic species have traditionally lived, 
and subtropical species are moving into southern waters, 
previously the habitat of temperate species. 
The latest European Science Foundation-Marine Board study 
report released Friday, "Impact of climate change on European 
marine and coastal environment - Ecosystem approach," shows 
that even the current moderate climate scenarios have had 
consequences for the European marine environment. 
The two year study was conducted by a team led by marine 
ecologist Dr. Katja Philippart from the Royal Netherlands 
Institute for Sea Research, who chairs the European working 
group Climate Change Impacts on the European Marine and 
Coastal Environment. 
Dr. Katja Philippart leads the team that reported on climate 
change and European marine species. 
The report was introduced at the annual Young Marine 
Scientist’s Day event at the Boeverbos venue in Bruges, 
organized by the Flanders Marine Institute, VLIZ. 
At the event, the report was formally delivered to Koen 
Verlaeckt, head of cabinet science and innovation for Fientje 
Moerman, vice-minister president of the Flemish government and 
Flemish minister of economy, enterprise, science, innovation 
and foreign trade. 
The study has detailed the impact of climate change at a 
European Seas level – in the Arctic, the Barents Sea, the 
Nordic Seas, the Baltic, the North Sea, the Northeast 
Atlantic, in the Celtic-Biscay Shelf, the Iberia upwelling 
margin, the Mediterranean Sea and the Black Sea. 
The decline in sea ice cover in the northern Arctic and 
Barents Seas has triggered the most obvious temperature 
changes for marine life, the study finds. The open systems 
structure of these seas demonstrates how climate changes are 
causing further northward movement of marine organisms. 
Distributional shifts in organisms, from phytoplankton to 
marine mammals and seabirds, may result in the establishment 
of non-indigenous species in the Arctic, forcing a further 
geographical retraction of native Arctic species and the 
possibility of some species disappearing altogether, the 
Philippart team reports. 
In addition, increased river runoff which has freshened the 
Baltic Sea has led to shifts from marine to more brackish 
species and even freshwater species moving into the Baltic. 
The crab Hemigrapsus penicillatus, a Pacific Northwest 
species, is invading the coast of Belgium. 
At the same time, the temperature-induced loss of native 
species from enclosed systems, such as the Mediterranean and 
Black Sea, will make it easier for non-native organisms to 
invade these seas, the study shows. 
The scientific evidence is now overwhelming that "climate 
change is a serious global threat which requires urgent global 
response, and that climate change is driven by human 
activity," the report reiterates. 
The report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, 
IPCC, released in February states that sea levels will rise by 
3.1 centimeters (1.2 inches) each decade. 
Written by more than 600 scientists from around the world, and 
endorsed by 113 governments, the IPCC report warns that the 
oceans have warmed to a depth of three kilometers (two miles). 

Arctic summer sea-ice is likely to disappear in the second 
half of this century, the IPCC reports, up to 40 percent of 
species could face extinction; and weather patterns will 
become more extreme, with hurricanes and storms becoming more 
intense. 
The Philippart report warns that increased storminess will 
worsen the effect of sea level rise in coastal systems due to 
the higher frequency of storm surges and extreme wave action. 
Wetland losses due to sea level rise are expected to be in the 
order of 17 percent along the Atlantic coasts, 31 to 100 
percent along the Mediterranean coast and 84 to 98 percent 
along the Baltic coast, Philippart says, citing the IPCC 
report of 2001. 
Greater defense of these coastlines to prevent coastal 
flooding will lead to additional loss of coastal habitats. 
Offshore structures and installations for hydrocarbon 
extraction and renewable energy will also be at greater risk. 
The Stern Review, a 2006 report by British economist Sir 
Nicholas Stern, estimates the annual social and economic cost 
of climate change to the global economy at €5.5 billion 
(US$7.1 billion) by 2050. 
The Stern Review concludes that provided humans take strong 
action now, there is still time to avoid the worst impacts of 
climate change, the Philippart report notes. 
Scientists use a hot water drill to map ice thickness in the 
Baltic Sea. 
For the future, the European Science Foundation-Marine working 
group recommends that scientists make a concerted effort to 
gather, store and analyze marine environmental data in a 
common open access database that would include annual 
Pan-European reporting based on national contributions. 
The working group recommends identifying the nature and rate 
of consequences of climate change in European marine and 
coastal waters. This will require sustained monitoring efforts 
and use of new technologies to increase their spatial and 
temporal resolution. 
The scientists would like to develop the ability to predict 
the consequences of climate change for the marine environment, 
predict the response and feedback of marine environments and 
ecosystems to climate change, and finally to predict the 
impact of climate change on the distribution of marine 
organisms and on marine food webs. 
The European Science Foundation, with offices in Strasbourg 
and Brussels, is the European association of 75 major national 
research funding and performing organizations and academies in 
30 countries. 
With its 23 marine research member institutes and agencies 
from 16 countries, the ESF Marine Board advises governments on 
strategic and scientific policy issues at the European level. 
The full report, “Impact of climate change on European marine 
and coastal environment - Ecosystem approach,” is online at: 
http://www.vliz.be/EN/INTRO&id=196 





 

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