Threats to marine biodiversity - climate change

Climate change is making the oceans warmer, more acidic and low on oxygen. This is profoundly transforming the living conditions in the oceans. Fish populations from warmer areas migrate towards the poles as their habitats become unliveable. Coral bleaching events become faster and more dramatic. Marine diseases spread with increasing and alarming speed. 

Climate change also decreases the ocean’s ability to absorb CO2 and regulate the climate. We have to urgently reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and to adopt climate change mitigation strategies. Marine protected areas, especially when designed in strategically coherent networks, can protect ecosystems and allow for the restoration of marine life. 

This will make the oceans more resilient as climate change effects persist.