Warmer ocean temperatures due to climate change could attract invasive species that threaten native marine life, according to an expert, with knock-on impacts for fishing and biodiversity.
A heatwave in Irish waters this week came in the wake of a startling report by the Marine Institute last month that identified that Irish sea temperatures are rising, and as the government develops legislation to try to protect vulnerable ocean ecosystems before it is too late.
There are many warning signs that Earth’s oceans are heating up. Global ocean temperatures last month were the warmest of any May in modern records, according to the Copernicus Climate Change Service.
A recent report found that average sea surface temperatures in the North Atlantic are the hottest on record, with warming rates more than three times the global average occurring in the eastern Mediterranean Sea, the Baltic and Black Seas and the southern Arctic.
In the North Atlantic near Ireland and the UK, a marine heatwave saw water temperatures up to four degrees higher last week than average for this time of year.
The ocean has a high threshold for heat absorption and can absorb large amounts of excess heat, Fair Seas Communications Officer Jack O’Donovan explained to The Journal. However, rising greenhouse gas emissions and global temperature increases are pushing it to capacity.
As temperature patterns change, the profile of marine life that can and can’t survive in Irish waters will also likely shift.
Fish and plants that can currently thrive around Ireland may move northwards in search of cooler temperatures, while species currently found closer to the equator could migrate to Irish latitudes.