Global warming impacts marine environments in many ways.

Rising temperatures cause ice to melt, adding water to the ocean. They also cause water to expand as it heats up. The resultant ongoing rise in sea level poses a threat to communities, river deltas, estuaries and coastal wetlands, agricultural and industrial land, and coastal urban areas.

Aerial view of a distributary channel of the Danube river flowing into the Black Sea, Danube Biosphere Reserve in Danube delta. Credit: Andrey Nekrasov.

Climate change is also causing many marine wildlife species to move to new parts of the ocean. As water temperatures rise, species found in the tropics and Mediterranean are beginning to appear further north in the Atlantic while some fish typically found in the Atlantic are moving to cooler northern latitudes.

The good news is that the ocean absorbs around a third of all the carbon dioxide emissions from human activities. Marine rewilding is therefore an important nature-based climate solution.