Warming seas around Ireland, Britain and the north-east Atlantic could destabilise marine food webs, a newly published study says. Afloat has previously reported on the growing likelihood of marine heatwaves.
This could have serious consequences for food security within the next three decades, according to the study involving Britain's Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (Cefas).
As The Guardian reports, under a scenario of almost 3°C of warming by 2100, key plankton groups lower in the food chain are projected to lose species. The potential decline of plankton in the seas has been a concern in earlier marine research.
This could disrupt marine food webs and weaken the health and resilience of ocean ecosystems, the newspaper reports.
The research, led by Cefas and published in the journal Science Advances, involved researchers from the University of East Anglia, the Marine Biological Association, UiT the Arctic University of Norway, the Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research and the Technical University of Denmark.
The seas around Ireland and Britain have been identified as part of one of 20 global marine climate hotspots, among the fastest-warming areas over the past half-century, particularly the southern North Sea.
Fish diversity may increase, with species such as anchovies, seabass and sardines potentially benefiting from warmer waters, while Atlantic cod, haddock and coley could be negatively affected, according to earlier research. The Marine Institute’s Stock Book provides further context on Irish fish stocks, while the impact of climate change on fish stocks has also been raised in the Oireachtas.
