Epoch Times
18 January 2015
Climate change is already having a severe impact on the atmosphere and oceans around the world. These changes are also impacting specific economic sectors including the fishing and aquaculture industries. According to a recent report by the European Climate Foundation, the Sustainable Fisheries Partnership and the University of Cambridge, the fishing industry is projected to lose tens-of-billions as the world continues to heat up.
“Current estimates of the total loss of landings to global fisheries by 2050 due to climate change range between USD $17 and $41 billion, based on a global 2°C warming scenario,” the authors concluded “Losses are likely to be highest in East Asia and the Pacific. Acidification is projected to drive a decline in global shellfish production between 2020 and 2060.”
This report, published last year, synthesizes key findings from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s (IPCC) Fifth Assessment Report (AR5). It highlights the impacts of climate change on the seafood production with an aim to make IPCC findings more accessible to the fisheries and aquaculture sector.
While the study details the work of the IPCC, it also provides some additional assessments. It concludes that climate change will hurt the fishing industry on a global level, especially impacting the 400 million people who rely on fish as a main food source. Global warming’s impacts are expected to be the most devastating in the tropics and Antarctica where fishing yields are estimated to decease 40 to 60 percent.