Climate change will cause fish biomass to decline 5 percent for every one degree Celsius of warming, according to the most comprehensive analysis of marine ecosystem models to date.
The study, which was authored by 35 researchers from 12 countries, combines multiple climate and ecosystem models to create an ensemble model that estimates future global marine biomass — the total weight of all the fish, invertebrates, and marine mammals in the ocean.
The effects of the decline are projected to be more severe for creatures at the top of the food chain, including fish species popular with fishermen.
The decline in biomass will be more severe if humanity continues to emit high amounts of greenhouse gases, but even a certain amount of decline is already locked in under low emissions scenarios. If current trends continue, marine biomass will decline 17 percent by 2100, while it will decline only 5 percent if humanity implements strong mitigation programs…
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