17-07-2025
Scientists issue warning over surprising effects of emerging ocean phenomenon: 'Particularly impactful'
The Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science in the UK recently mapped how a number of threatened marine species will react to increasingly warming sea waters in the UK, with surprising results.
What happened?
Seas in the UK have seen a record amount of warming in the past 50 years.
According to the BBC, researchers have projected how 19 threatened marine species are likely to react to this disruption to their native habitats.
Surprisingly, some of these species, including rays and endangered sharks, may see a boon as they move to new habitats in search of cooler waters. However, more static species, such as the clam known as the ocean quahog, will find it much more difficult to adapt to rising temperatures as compared to mobile species.
Even with some species relocating to new areas in the seas, though, the disruption caused by changes in sea temperatures will result in adverse effects for local ecosystems, economies, and food supply chains.
One marine scientist from the Centre told the BBC, "As an island nation, we're hugely reliant on the sea for our food and for jobs. Any changes that we see in our seas are particularly impactful."
Why are rising sea temperatures concerning?
The world's seas absorb nearly 90% of the additional heating caused by human use of dirty energy sources. As temperatures continue to rise, the consequences can be deadly for both marine and human life.
When warmer water forces marine species to move to new habitats because their current ones are too warm for them to survive, it can sometimes cause these species to increase in number, as may be the case with sharks in the UK, but it can also result in these species dying out. Static species unable to move to new locations won't be able to survive.
If deadlier marine life, such as sharks, increasingly moves closer to where humans congregate, it will be more dangerous for both the animals and humans.
Rising sea temperatures also affect humans in a variety of ways. Fewer marine species means less seafood, less need for fishermen, and issues in the food supply chain. Warmer temperatures in the sea increase the risk of extreme weather events, too, which often lead to flooding, damage to property, injuries, and deaths in local communities.
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What's being done about rising sea temperatures?
One significant way to mitigate the damage caused by rising sea temperatures is by reducing carbon pollution. As more people and corporations continue to switch to utilizing renewable energy and reducing their use of plastic, this pollution can be greatly reduced.
Several conservation groups are hard at work managing, protecting, and restoring marine and coastal ecosystems to ensure marine life is more resilient in warmer waters.
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