Huw Griffiths Understanding global climate change through new breakthroughs in polar research

Changes in sea-ice Rising water temperatures Ocean acidification Response of polar marine ecosystems to climate change

Parkinson, 2002 Sea-ice change declining growing or stable Colonies:

 50% decrease in krill population Atkinson et al Over 2-fold decrease / 10 years Over 2-fold increase / 10 years © I. Arndt, source: AWI

Bracegirdle, 2008

COPE or ADAPT MOVE deeper further South Meredith & King 2005 Ocean warming EXTINCTION +0.05°C / year

Cheung et al 2009 Changes in species composition

Sea Ice Zone: January Stress: 0.05 Southern Ocean Continuous Plankton Recorder 65 mm 0.5 mm Hosie, pers. com.

Increased CO 2  ocean acidification (2100) calcium carbonate Orr et al., 2005 © I. Arndt, AWI

Photographs: J. Gutt/W. Dimmler, © AWI/Marum, Univ. Bremen & M. Scheidat, L. Lehnert; results: Gutt et al (submitted to DSR II) >8000 known species 78% of species live on the sea floor More than half are only known from the Antarctic

Climate Change and Benthic Animals Food availability Invading predators Icebergs Heat stress Acidification Species ranges

Range shifts: Where should we look? Southern Limits Northern Limits Barnes et al., 2009

Summary Sea-ice changes directly affect the Antarctic marine life Warming is expected to change species compositions: invasions, migrations and extinctions Acidification a possible problem for pelagic and benthic species Shifts in species ranges will be the first indication of major changes affecting the seafloor life For more information about climate change in the Antarctic: “Antarctic Climate Change and the Environment (ACCE)”

Acknowledgements I would like to thank all those who helped in the making of this talk. Especially Julian Gutt, Graham Hosie, all those involved in the SCAR climate change report and my colleagues at the British Antarctic Survey.