The first-ever Australian benchmark of climate change impacts on marine ecosystems and options for adaptation is being released in Brisbane today. The work of more than 70 marine scientists, the Marine Climate Change Impacts and Adaptation Report Card for Australia, has found Australian ocean temperatures are warming, with south-west and south-eastern waters warming fastest. It has also found significant changes in biodiversity with declines of over 10% in growth rates of massive corals on the Great Barrier Reef due to ocean acidification and thermal stress. Copies of the report card are available from the AusSMC
Feel free to use these quotes in your stories. Any further comments will be posted here. If you would like to speak to an expert, please don’t hesitate to contact us on (08) 7120 8666 **Note new number** or by email.
Dr Will Howard is from the Antarctic Climate & Ecosystems Cooperative Research Centre, Hobart Tasmania. He is a Contributor to the Report Card and Lead Author of the ‘Ocean Acidification’ section.
“The report card provides an up-to-date summary of what we understand about climate impacts in Australian marine systems and, perhaps just as importantly, an assessment of our gaps in understanding. The impact of ocean acidification, a pervasive and persistent effect on the ocean, has only begun to be detected in nature in the last few years, and indeed most of the papers we cite date from the past year. A number of marine ecosystems of national and global importance, including the Great Barrier Reef and the Southern Ocean, are already feeling the effects of acidification. Continued monitoring of emerging climate impacts and evolving science, through processes like the Report Card and its updates, will be vital in the coming years for policymakers, the public, and the scientific community.”
Dr Richard Matear is a Senior Research Scientist at CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research and a contributor to the Report Card
“Climate change and ocean acidification have the potential to impact many marine organisms and alter the functioning of marine ecosystems. The report card provides an excellent Australian focused expert synopsis of how the oceans around Australia are changing, and how these environmental changes may impact key marine organisms. The report card presents an easy to read and concise summary of the risks and the uncertainties of the impacts of climate change and ocean acidification. It is essential reading to anyone interested in the Australian marine environment.”
Dr Helen McGregor is an AINSE Research Fellow in the School of Earth and Environmental Sciences at University of Wollongong
“This report card is an elegant summary of our current state of knowledge, future predictions, and how to improve our understanding of marine climate change and the impact on marine ecosystems. It should act as a ‘call to arms’ for scientists, policy makers and the general public to better understand our unique marine environment, and to do everything possible to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The report card highlights the fact that human-induced climate change is already upon us.”
