Marine ecosystems get a climate form guide

Scientists from CSIRO, Australian universities, State and territory environmental agencies, Australian Institute of Marine Science and Bureau of Meteorology, released the Australian benchmark of climate change impacts on marine ecosystems and options for adaptation. 

The Marine Climate Change Impacts and Adaptation Report Card for Australia, and an accompanying website, provides a biennial guide for scientists, government and the community on observed and projected impacts of climate change on marine ecosystems.

The Report Card highlights observations over the past decade, projects forward to 2030 and 2100 with assessments of likely status and confidence ratings, and offers adaptation responses that can also inform policy makers.

Key concerns include; warmer and more acidic waters, the increasing strengths of major warm-water currents such as the East Australian Current, changes in the productivity, and shifts in species’ distribution and abundance.

Copies of the report are available at http://www.oceanclimatechange.org.au