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Climate Change
The increase in acidity in our world is extremely detrimental to our
overall health, as our ability to control it will weaken over time, and
our health will follow. Living near the coast as much as we do, which is
the majority of locality of living, not only in the U.S., but other
countries that have populated, is adding to the breakdown of natural
cleansing the planet is normally capable of.
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Climate Change already affecting Euorpe's seas, says
JRC
15 February 2007 - Cordis News
Climate change is already having a significant impact on
Europe's seas and coasts, and any policies designed to mitigate these
impacts will also have to address the wider human exploitation of the
seas and coasts, according to a new report from the European
Commission's Joint Research Centre.
The report, 'Marine and Coastal Dimension of Climate Change in Europe:
A report to the European Water Directors', was presented at a
symposium on climate change and water organized by the German EU
Council Presidency.
Research shows that climate change is not affecting all European
waters equally; while sea temperatures around Scotland have increased
by around 1°C in the last 20 years, temperatures in the Mediterranean
have gone up by just 0.5°C. Similarly, rates of sea level rise around
Europe range from 0.8mm per year to 3mm per year.Meanwhile catastrophic weather events such as downpours, storm surges
and floods also appear to be becoming more frequent.
Changes in sea level have serious knock on effects on other aspects of
the coastal environment, as they interfere with tide behavior, sea ice
conditions and evaporation. Other aspects of the marine environment
which are already showing the effects of climate change include
circulation patterns and the carbon cycle, with seas becoming more
acidic as they absorb more carbon dioxide.
Temperature changes have also forced warm-water species northward, and
led to a decline in cold-water species. Since the 1960s a sharp fall
in the levels of the dominant zooplankton species has lead to changes
in the structure of the North Sea's fish assemblages. Combined with
over-fishing, this has lead to the almost complete disappearance of
the economically important cod population.
As this last point shows, human activities such as
fisheries, energy production, trade and tourism can work to compound
the effects of climate change.
On the research front, the report notes that 'there is a need for
sustained funding to enable the collection and analysis of long term
records to assess and decouple the impacts of climate change from
other anthropogenic and natural variability in the oceans and seas,
and to build sustainable monitoring and assessment capacities.'
More basic research into the impacts of global warming on water
acidity, food-web interactions and the carbon cycle is also needed, as
is a European marine and coastal observing network providing
unrestricted access to real time data. At the global scale,
international cooperation with third countries is essential if
conflicting situations are to be avoided when implementing mitigation
or adaptation plans on marine resources.
The report also highlights the need for a mechanism to ensure that
data and information arising from research reach decision makers and
users of the marine ecosystem.
The authors note that all European water-related policies, such as the
Water Framework Directive, need to be fully implemented across Europe.
'But most importantly, the European Marine Strategy, as the
environmental pillar for the EU Maritime Policy Green Paper, would
represent a unique integrated tool for the protection of the marine
environment in Europe looking at issues in a holistic way, including
present and future climate change impacts,' the report states.For more information, please visit:
http://ies.jrc.ec.europa.eu/
Environment and climate change research under FP7:
http://cordis.europa.eu/fp7/cooperation/environment_en.html
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The
The
Labors in the Spirits of
Science
Living on the Lost Planet 
