World - Ripple effects of climate change have created a 'new ocean'

Study co-author Jon Witman, a professor of Biology at Brown University, emphasized the importance of understanding both the steady warming trend and local temperature variability.

How organisms adapt

Witman collaborated with Andrew Pershing of Climate Central and John Bruno from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

The researchers investigated how marine communities adapt to both gradual and variable changes, reviewing processes that either facilitate or hinder adaptation.

Focus of the study

“Greenhouse gas emissions are warming the ocean with profound consequences at all levels of organization, from organismal rates to ecosystem processes. The proximate driver is an interplay between anthropogenic warming (the trend) and natural fluctuations in local temperature,” wrote the study authors.

___________________

Read also

Plant hardiness zone update highlights climate change impact, The Citizen / Nov 19, 2023

___________________

“These two properties cause anomalously warm events such as marine heatwaves to occur with increasing frequency and magnitude.”

Temperature fluctuations

However, the interaction between the steadily warming climate and the spikes in local temperatures tends to be underappreciated, said Witman.

“Climate change studies often focus on the trend of global warming. But organisms in the ocean are also experiencing temperature fluctuations, and that’s less studied and therefore less understood,” explained Witman.

“What we’re trying to do is to add more reality into ocean climate change studies by considering both the smooth, upward trend of climate warming as well as the variability on top of that trend.”

Local conditions

“Marine communities are made up of species that are adapted to the prevailing local conditions. Thermal conditions can be characterized by the mean temperature, the amplitude of the annual cycle, and the interannual variability,” wrote the researchers.

‍