December 1, 2021 — A new study projects how climate change will affect the oceans, and protected areas in particular. The scientists used a series of different warming scenarios to determine how climate change might alter the oceans.
According to lead author Steven Mana’oakamai Johnson, “In all three scenarios, conditions in more than half of the ocean are going to be novel, meaning new and significantly different, than they have been in the last 50 years.”
Due to the strong links between the ocean and atmosphere, the ocean will continue to absorb fossil fuel emissions and its internal chemistry will shift in such a way that it could require updated conservation measures for 97% of large marine protected areas. And, unchecked climate change could cause increases in acidity as soon as 2030.