Nature Climate Change - 90% Of Known Marine Species @ High/Critical Risk By 2100 w/o Real GHG Cuts
A new study has found that nearly 90% of assessed marine life will be at high or critical risk by the year 2100 if climate change accelerates along a high-emissions pathway, and that these species will face risks across 85% of their native ranges in the ocean. “It’s a pretty bleak picture,” Alex Pigot, study co-author and biodiversity expert at University College London, told Mongabay. “When we’re talking about 90% of species at higher critical risk across most of their geographic distribution, we’re talking about enormous disruption to marine ecosystems. “The projections for the kind of ocean that we would be leaving our children and grandchildren by the end of the century,” he added, “is really extremely concerning.”
While Pigot says that ultimately “nowhere on the planet will be unaffected by climate change,” the risks will be more concentrated in the tropics, while marine species at higher latitudes will face slightly fewer risks. “I think those disparities in the impacts on potential risks of climate change to different countries are really stark,” he said. “As a general rule, we’re finding that countries that are at lower latitudes, countries that rely on marine resources more heavily for their economy and nutrition, and countries that are essentially least equipped to be able to deal with these impacts are the ones that are facing the highest risk. And of course, they’re also the ones that have contributed the least to historical greenhouse gas emissions, and are actually often doing the most now to mitigate their emissions.”
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Published this week in Nature Climate Change, the study analyzed the climate change risk for nearly 25,000 species living in the upper 100 meters (330 feet) of the water column under two scenarios: a high-emissions track, as well as a pathway toward mitigation more aligned with the goals of the Paris Agreement. While carrying on with business as usual doesn’t bode well for the oceans, the study found that a reduction in emissions would reduce risk for “virtually all species” — more than 98%.
“The beneficial impact of following a high mitigation scenario — of transitioning society towards a more sustainable pathway — is huge,” Derek Tittensor, study co-author and marine ecologist at Dalhousie University in Canada, told Mongabay in an email. “The overwhelming positives of seriously tackling climate change are enormous both for people and for life in the oceans.” Tittensor added that we need to reduce our emissions, mitigate our impacts and transition to renewable energies as quickly as possible to be able to forge a more sustainable future for our oceans.
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https://news.mongabay.com/2022/08/study-paints-bleak-picture-for-nearly-all-marine-life-without-emissions-cuts/