Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
CHAPTER 4
Climate Change and Marine
Zooplankton
María C. Menéndez,* Melisa D. Fernández Severini,
Florencia Biancalana, María S. Dutto, María C. López Abbate
and
Anabela A. Berasategui
Introduction
Humans infl uence climate mainly through fossil-fuel, industrial, agricultural,
and other land-use emissions that alter atmospheric composition (Doney
et al. 2012). Long-lived, heat-trapping greenhouse gases (CO
2
, CH
4
, N
2
O,
tropospheric ozone, and chlorofl uorocarbons) warm the surface of the
planet, whereas shorter-lived aerosols can either warm or cool at a lower
spatial scale (Doney et al. 2012). CO
2
is particularly important for the Earth's
climate system. Its worldwide output is enormous, entailing a ~40% increase
of its atmospheric concentration over the past 250 years (Danovaro et al.
2011). According to the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental
Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the global mean surface air temperature
increased by 0.74°C whereas the global mean sea-surface temperature rose
by 0.67°C over the last century (Trenberth et al. 2007).
The oceans cover approximately 70% of the surface of the Earth and have
the potential to store >1000 times more heat than the atmosphere (Levitus et
al. 2005). Oceans play a key role in regulating climate by storing, distributing
