In Dead Water: Merging of climate change with - UNEP

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THREATS TO THE MARINE ENVIRONMENT Each of the big five stressors (not in order of magnitude), 1) Climate change; 2) Pollution (mainly coastal), 3) Fragmentation and habitat loss (from e.g. dredging/trawling, use of explosives in fishing on coral reefs etc.), 4) Invasive species infestations, and 5) Over-harvest from fisheries may individually or combined result in severe impacts on the biological production of the worlds oceans and the services they provide to billions of people today. If climate change accelerates, the impacts on marine life from the other stressors will become severely exacerbated and the ability of ecosystems to recover will be impaired. Climate change Fragmentation and habitat loss Overharvesting from fisheries Pollution (mainly coastal) Invasive species Figure 8. Primary threats to the Worlds oceans include the ‘Big Five’ stressors.
CLIMATE CHANGE IN THE SEA The Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change states that warming of the climate system is unequivocal, as is now evident from observations of increases in global average air and ocean temperatures, widespread melting of snow and ice, and rising global average sea level. Natural systems, including oceans and coasts, are being affected by regional climate changes, particularly by temperature increases. Besides rising surface water temperatures and sea level, impacts are or will be associated with changes in the wave climate, circulation, ice cover, fresh water run-off, salinity, oxygen levels and water acidity. Shifts in ranges and changes in algal, plankton and fish abundance have already been observed in high-latitude oceans. Besides these there are other effects that, based on published literature, have not yet become established trends as they are difficult to discern due to adaptation and non-climatic drivers. Sea level-rise is negatively contributing to coastal erosion, losses of coastal wetland ecosystems, including salt marshes and mangroves, and increasing damage from coastal flooding in many areas. These effects will be exacerbated by increasing human-induced pressures on coastal areas.
Page 1 and 2: RAPID RESPONSE ASSESSMENT IN DEAD W
Page 3 and 4: Christian Nellemann Stefan Hain Jac
Page 5: PREFACE The world’s oceans are al
Page 8 and 9: covered and possible loss of cold-w
Page 10: Over-harvesting and bottom trawling
Page 13 and 14: CONTENTS 0 0 PREFACE SUMMARY WHY OC
Page 16 and 17: THE SEA - ONE OF THE LARGEST FOOD F
Page 18 and 19: SEAMOUNTS AND CONTINENTAL SHELVES -
Page 20 and 21: These unique features make seamount
Page 22 and 23: CORAL REEFS Coral reefs are marine
Page 25: More and more coral reefs are being
Page 29 and 30: global bleaching event was recorded
Page 31 and 32: Number of events per year 450 400 3
Page 33 and 34: Figure 15. How sea level rise will
Page 35 and 36: OCEAN ACIDIFICATION The oceans act
Page 37 and 38: Figure 18. As carbon concentrations
Page 39 and 40: SLOWING DOWN OF THERMOHALINE CIRCUL
Page 41 and 42: opean Seas) - of which UNEP is a pa
Page 43 and 44: Figure 23. Infrastructure developme
Page 45 and 46: Figure 24. Sewage treatment is low
Page 47: Among the most destructive fishing
Page 51 and 52: It is important, however, to realiz
Page 53 and 54: Figure 27. The locations of major p
Page 55 and 56: UNEP-WCMC & UNEP/GRID-Arendal Figur
Page 57 and 58: Overharvest from fisheries Coastal
Page 59 and 60: CONTRIBUTORS AND REVIEWERS Christia
Page 61 and 62: current status and prospects of ant
Page 64: UNEP/GRID-Arendal Teaterplassen 3 N

In Dead Water: Merging of climate change with - UNEP

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