Artist / Illustrator
Aoe Girard
The effects of climate change on jellyfish populations are significant. Over the past two decades, there has been a significant increase in the global populations of many jellyfish species, leading to more frequent "jellyfish blooms."
This phenomenon has caused beach closures, power outages and harm to other marine species. Research shows that these increases can be linked to human activities and the warming of oceans due to greenhouse gases.
As the oceans absorb 93% of the excess heat caused by these gases, warmer waters with less oxygen can become hospitable environments for jellyfish, enabling their populations to thrive.
With higher temperatures due to climate change, octopuses are changing the way they behave and develop in ways that often times hinder their survival. Birth rates, population size, and energy distribution are all affected drastically with slight changes in temperatures.
Climate change can cause water temperature to rise, leading to coral bleaching and reducing the amount of food available for sea horses and other creatures that rely on coral for survival.
Climate change causes mass coral bleaching, increased disease outbreaks, and ocean acidification, impacting coral reef ecosystems through rising sea levels, altered storms, and circulation patterns. These changes negatively impact the ecosystem and the benefits it provides to people.
A rise in atmospheric CO2 induces a greenhouse effect that also causes ocean temperatures and CO2 levels to rise. These environmental changes may represent an additional energetic cost for blue crabs because they rely on the concentration of CO2 in the water to deposit calcium carbonate in their shells.
Climate change damage to the homes of clownfish affects their physiology. The metabolism of clownfish, or anemone-fish , decreases when their sea 'homes' are damaged by climate change, according to a new study.