Threat to marine life from warming UK seas

The annual study for the UK government by almost 100 scientists from 40 UK organisations showed some fish have moved northwards by between 30 and 250 miles over the past 30 years, with coldwater species such as monkfish and snake blenny moving furthest. The report said warmer temperatures in the seas had an impact on coldwater species such as cod, threatening the survival of larvae and the growth of the fish, while salmon and eels, which live in both fresh and salt water, were shown to be particularly vulnerable to the impact of climate change. However, elsewhere there were boosts for fisheries, with squid becoming more abundant in the northern North Sea and seabass populations off the coast of the South West and South Wales quadrupling since 1985.

UK sea levels have risen in line with global rises of an average 1.8mm a year since 1955, the report, published today, showed. The rate of increase has escalated in recent years, with sea levels rising by 3mm a year on average since 1992, the Marine Climate Change Impacts Partnership said.

 The oceans are also becoming more acidic, at a rate faster than any other time in the past 55 million years.