A new study recently published in the journal Nature Communications has warned of the effects of climate change on fishing and agriculture in tropical coastal communities, which are highly dependent on these economic activities to sustain their economies.
According to the study, in which the Institut de Ciències del Mar (ICM-CSIC) and a large group of experts from centres around the world have participated, these communities could face major food losses due to climate change. Until now, large-scale predictions had brought the problem to the table, although the data provided were not very informative at the local level, where the socio-economic impacts occur.
"This work proves the suitability of using predictive models at smaller scales to improve the management of local communities," explains in this regard Marta Coll, researcher at the ICM-CSIC and one of the authors of the study.
This is the first work assessing the impact of climate change on coastal communities in the tropics, which face more economic difficulties than their counterparts in temperate zones. Specifically, the research focuses on 72 communities in five countries within the Indo-Pacific region: Indonesia, Madagascar, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines and Tanzania.
Read more at Institut de Ciències del Mar (ICM-CSIC)
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