Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment

Potential Impacts of Climate Change on Native and non-Native Marine Species around Aotearoa

It is estimated that around 90% of excess heat attributable to global warming is absorbed by the ocean. This has profound consequences for our marine environment, including ocean warming and increased numbers of marine heat waves, sea level rise, changing current circulation patterns, ocean acidification and deoxygenation.

The objective of this contract is to understand how changes in ocean masses movements and temperatures (including those changes associated with ocean acidity and oxygen levels) impact the biosecurity of New Zealand. Specifically looking at threats from invasive marine organisms.