Climate Change and Oceans

Impact of Climate Change on Oceans and Environment

• Predicted changes from global warming include earlier and hotter summers, more severe droughts and flooding, retreating mountain glaciers, and water contamination issues.
• Rising sea levels lead to saltwater intrusion, threatening local aquifers and causing ecosystem changes with many species facing extinction.
• Warming oceans result in increased biological productivity in plants on land and ice-free Arctic waters with higher ocean productivity.
• Ocean temperatures are increasing, with the northern hemisphere and deep waters experiencing the most drastic changes.
• Warmer oceans fuel increased hurricane activity, leading to a higher risk of more severe storms, such as category four and five hurricanes.
• Climate change affects three-dimensional thermohaline circulation, potentially disrupting the North Atlantic deep water circulation and causing global cooling in northern Europe.
• Arctic amplification leads to the loss of Arctic sea ice, affecting the habitats of vulnerable species like narwhals and polar bears.
• Glacial thinning in Antarctica results in shrinking glaciers, with the Larsen Ice Shelf decreasing by more than 40% in the last decade and contributing to rising sea levels.
• Ocean acidification, caused by increased carbon dioxide absorption, threatens the survival of calcifying marine organisms, such as pteropods, corals, sea urchins, and coccolithophores.
• Melting of the Antarctic and Greenland ice sheets, along with thermal expansion of the oceans, are contributing to rising sea levels.
• The loss of sea ice in the Arctic, which has already exceeded 2 million square kilometers in the last decade, leads to enhanced warming due to lower albedo.
• Climate change impacts include not only environmental changes but also the potential extinction of species, threats to marine ecosystems, and the displacement of vulnerable communities due to rising sea levels and extreme weather events.