Climate change will wreak havoc on the UK marine environment, deepening the decline of cod, threatening the future survival of some sea bird colonies and causing wide-scale coastal disruption, a new WWF report has found.
'Climate change: Plunging our Seas into Deeper Crisis' says that an increase in sea surface temperature will be a major factor in further disrupting the breeding, feeding and growing cycles of fish, and in turn sea birds. This will be spurred by impacts on plankton, the major food source of many fish and the foundation of the whole marine environment. The report also found that major storm surges - temporary increases in sea level caused by atmospheric pressures and strong winds - will have destructive impacts on coastal areas as they become more frequent. Storm surges could cause flooding events in the East of England and in the London area.
Sea level rise is also likely to reduce coastal habitats of sea birds through erosion and damage to nesting sites. Sandeels, a major food source for birds and fish, which breed in shallow sand banks, may also be affected.
The North Sea, where plankton is reported to have already changed dramatically, is likely to be hit the hardest by climate change. This will have direct impacts on cod stocks, in addition to the existing pressures from fisheries, according to the report.
Andrew Lee, Director of Campaigns at WWF, said: "Our seas are already under severe pressure from a number of activities such as fishing, oil and gas exploration and coastal development. This report shows that climate change has the power to deepen this crisis and to completely turn our marine world upside down - disrupting and changing the entire ecosystem.
"This heightens the urgency for government action to both significantly reduce the UK's CO2 emissions and to bring forward a new Marine Bill, which will protect our marine wildlife and reform the way our seas are planned and managed to ensure they are economically productive and sustainable for future generations."
The group of scientists who contributed to the report also highlighted ocean acidification as a major concern. The pH of the sea has already reduced from 8.3 to 8.2 and is predicted to decline to 7.6 by the end of the century. This would be beyond any level of acidity experienced by current marine wildlife and is likely to impact corals, sea urchins and shell fish as well as breeding success of fish, such as cod.
Harbour porpoises and fin whales are most likely to be affected by climate change through the combined impacts of pollution and reduced food supply. This will threaten their breeding success, and in the case of harbour porpoises, this is likely to accelerate their decline.
Emily Lewis-Brown, Marine Research Officer, said: "Climate change will cause dramatic disruption to our seas over the coming years. Future planning of our marine environment must take into account the effects of climate change to help our seas adapt to the challenges that will come."