Carbon Brief has extracted data from around 70 peer-reviewed climate studies to show how global warming is projected to affect the world and its regions. Scroll to see how these impacts vary at different temperature levels, across a range of key metrics. Find specfic categories and regions below.
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Climate change is expected to result in range shifts and habitat fragmentation for many species. In the Arctic, loss of sea ice will reduce barriers to dispersal or eliminate movement corridors, resulting in increased connectivity or geographic isolation with sweeping implications for conservation.
Propagule supply is fundamental in regulating the strength of demographic and genetic interactions in natural populations. In marine systems, recent studies focusing on benthic fish and invertebrate species with long planktonic durations have found that propagule production and supply are de-coupled by physical transport processes. Most benthic marine populations therefore have been considered demographically open, whereby recruitment is driven by remote propagule production. Few studies have focused on species with shorter planktonic durations (e. g., seaweeds).
Ecosystem-based management of coastal marine resources is based, in part, on scientific understanding of the broad (i.e. ecosystem-wide) consequences of human uses of the coastal environment, including resource extraction and degradation of habitats. To wisely manage these resources, a clear understanding of the potential impacts of human activities on the resource and the ecosystem is essential.
The Community-based Mangrove Rehabilitation Project of the Zoological Society of London ran from 2008 to 2012 with the aim of increasing coastal protection, food resources and livelihood income of coastal communities in Panayand Guimaras by rehabilitating abandoned government-leased fishponds to mangroves, re-establishing legally mandated coastal greenbelts, and securing tenure on coastal land through Community-based Forest Management Agreements (CBFMAs).
Mangrove ecosystems are threatened by climate change. We review the state of knowledge of mangrove vulnerability and responses to predicted climate change and consider adaptation options. Based on available evidence, of all the climate change outcomes, relative sea-level rise may be the greatest threat to mangroves. Most mangrove sediment surface elevations are not keeping pace with sea-level rise, although longer term studies from a larger number of regions are needed.
The Sian Ka’an biosphere reserve features mangroves and marshland. The once extensive stands in the reserve have, however, been severely depleted. A road constructed across the reserve improved access to the reserve but hindered water flow within the mangrove stands, leading to a large scale degradation of mangroves. The restoration programme uses the framework of an ecosystem-based approach to climate change adaptation to restore the original state of ecological conditions.
Ocean acidification is a direct consequence of increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations and is predicted to compromise the structure and function of coral reefs within this century. Research into the effects of ocean acidification on coral reefs has focused primarily on measuring and predicting changes in seawater carbon (C) chemistry and the biological and geochemical responses of reef organisms to such changes. To date, few ocean acidification studies have been designed to address conservation planning and management priori- ties.
The term 'assisted evolution' (AE) refers to a range of approaches that involve active intervention to accelerate the rate of naturally occurring evolutionary processes. These approaches aim to enhance certain attributes such as temperature tolerance, growth or reproduction.
Our goal is to enhance the resilience of corals to predicted future ocean scenarios of elevated temperature and acidification on the Great Barrier Reef.
AIMS researchers are examining a number of assisted evolution processes: