Consequences of climate change in a Baltic Sea bay exposed to 50 years

Global warming is the anthropogenic-related increase in the Earth’s surface temperature, primarily due to release of greenhouse gases. Understanding how rising temperatures will alter ecosystem functions and services is an imposing logistical challenge.

While the majority of studies have used fixed temperature manipulations of large magnitude and short duration, this project will use warm water discharge into a Baltic Sea bay for the last 45-years as a ‘natural laboratory’ to study long-term climate change effects.

The research will focus on microorganisms, as they are key players in marine sediment nutrient cycling, community compositions, and the ability of species to adapt and cope with increased temperatures.

In this proposal, it will be tested if long-term increased temperature selects an altered sediment community compared to control sediments; how elevated temperatures affect Baltic Sea productivity plus cycling of nutrients and greenhouse gases; if elevated temperatures result in increased hypoxic/anoxic waters; and if the responses to climate change are reversible if original conditions are restored.

The project focuses on the sustainable development goals to combat climate change and its impacts, to conserve and sustainably use the oceans, and to protect against climate change.

The project will provide data for policy formers to meet climate impact goals by modeling future climate impact in a contemporary warmed coastal system.