The oceans are getting warmer and our marine eco-systems are changing in ways that are becoming harder to predict.
Now, new research has found that higher temperatures - which are opening a Northwest Passage in the polar ice - have allowed marine species to travel between the Pacific and Atlantic oceans for the first time in hundreds of thousands of years.
One of these is the algae Neodenticula seminae, which has apparently returned to the Atlantic Ocean after an absence of over 800,000 years.
Experts say that in addition to being a harbinger of climate change, the re-introduction of the algae species could disrupt the balance of Atlantic's ecosystem.
The research is being coordinated by the EU-funded CLAMER project. CLAMER is synthesizing test results on the effects of climate change on marine eco-systems, and draws on research from over 300 projects in 10 European countries.
"There is a mountain of information - not just about marine life, but the currents, the atmosphere. All the things that are part of the marine eco-system," says Katja Philippart, who is working on the project for the Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research. Read the full report here.
Source: DW-World.DE.
