Nearly all marine species ‘face extinction risk by end of century’ unless emissions are curbed

2022-08-25 17:37:17

A new study has laid out the alarming impact that climate change will have on marine ecosystems by the end of the 21st century, if greenhouse gas emissions are not curbed.

A study published in Nature Climate Change on Monday (22 Aug 22) examines how marine species will react to different emissions scenarios detailed by the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

The authors have devised a new index – the Climate Risk Index for Biodiversity (CRIB) – that assesses the climate risk for nearly 25,000 marine species and their ecosystems.

The findings show that, under very high emissions, almost 90 per cent of these 25,000 species are put at high or critical risk, with species at risk across 85 per cent of their native areas, on average.

However, in an emissions mitigation scenario consistent with the 2C global warming limit in the Paris Agreement, the risk is reduced for virtually all marine species and ecosystems.

In a guest post for Carbon Brief, study authors Dr Daniel Boyce and Dr Derek Tittensor say that “climate change is rewiring marine ecosystems at an alarming rate”. They explain that their work essentially created a “climate report card” for marine life that tells us “which will be winners or losers under climate change.”

source:marineindustrynews.co.uk

Nearly all marine species ‘face extinction risk by end of century’ unless emissions are curbed

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