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Climate Change and Marine Ecosystem Research Results

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Climate change impacts on the marine environment

Researchers joined forces under the EU-funded CLAMER project to assess public perception and knowledge of the effects of climate change on marine ecosystems.

Climate Change and Environment icon Climate Change and Environment

There is no certainty of the precise effects or rate of future climate change. However, even the most moderate scenarios predict continuing change of marine environments will have major environmental and social impact. Public awareness of the findings and implications of research work in this area is generally low. An EU-funded research project, 'Climate change and marine ecosystem research results' (CLAMER) aims to address this. Team members will first work on gaining an overview of public perception in this area. This will help them investigate how to effectively relay the key messages from scientific work to citizens. Researchers looked at areas that included rising sea-levels, higher sea temperatures, stratification effects, and the changes in abundance and distribution of marine species. Polls taken in 10 countries on marine climate change issues found a high degree of awareness on issues such as sea-level rises and temperature fluctuations. However, public knowledge of less visible issues such as ocean acidification was found to be lower. CLAMER looked at how past research initiatives had communicated their findings to the public and found significant room for improvement. The team developed a number of approaches to increase engagement. Events in aquaria throughout Europe, commissioning the film 'Living with a warmer ocean' and publications were some of the dissemination approaches taken. Project members thus raised awareness among the public, policymakers and industry. Outcomes should stimulate action on an issue that will have major impacts on our societies.

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