1. Projected climate change impact on a coastal sea—As significant as all current pressures combined
- Author
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Iréne Wåhlström, Linus Hammar, Duncan Hume, Jonas Pålsson, Elin Almroth‐Rosell, Christian Dieterich, Lars Arneborg, Matthias Gröger, Martin Mattsson, Lovisa Zillén Snowball, Gustav Kågesten, Oscar Törnqvist, Emilie Breviere, Sandra‐Esther Brunnabend, and Per R. Jonsson
- Subjects
Salinity ,Global and Planetary Change ,Ecology ,Climate Change ,Oceans and Seas ,Temperature ,Humans ,Environmental Chemistry ,Eutrophication ,Ecosystem ,General Environmental Science - Abstract
Climate change influences the ocean's physical and biogeochemical conditions, causing additional pressures on marine environments and ecosystems, now and in the future. Such changes occur in environments that already today suffer under pressures from, for example, eutrophication, pollution, shipping, and more. We demonstrate how to implement climate change into regional marine spatial planning by introducing data of future temperature, salinity, and sea ice cover from regional ocean climate model projections to an existing cumulative impact model. This makes it possible to assess climate change impact in relation to pre-existing cumulative impact from current human activities. Results indicate that end-of-century projected climate change alone is a threat of the same magnitude as the combination of all current pressures to the marine environment. These findings give marine planners and policymakers forewarning on how future climate change may impact marine ecosystems, across space, emission scenarios, and in relation to other pressures.
- Published
- 2022