The Effects of Climate change on World Aquaculture: A global perspective

By : Neil Handisyde, Lindsay Ross, Marie-Caroline Badjeck & Eddie Allison

During the last few years, scientific consensus has moved to an acceptance that climate change is real and that we are now experiencing its early stages. In 2001, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), stated that new and stronger evidence that most of the warming over the last 50 years is attributable to human activities and suggests that the way in which the climate continues to change during the 21st century will be a result of both natural changes and the response of the climate system to human activities (IPCC, 2001a).

This comprehensive report, sponsored by the Department for International Development, DFID, considers the potential effects of climate change on world aquaculture and aims to give an overview of issues surrounding potential climate change impacts on the globally significant aquaculture sector. Mechanisms by which climatic variables may affect aquaculture systems are considered, along with their potential social and economic consequences.

Geographical Information Systems (GIS) are exploited to develop models which indicate vulnerable areas at the global scale using a broad range of social, economic and climate data. This provides a strong starting point for assessment of future climate change effects and a useful guide for both more localised, and issue specific studies.

Source: aquaculture.stir.ac.uk