Round Table Portugal, the Sea and Climate Change
2024-12-03 (IPMA)
IPMA, together with the “Organization of Scientific Workers” (OTC), organized the Round Table Debate “Portugal, the Sea and Climate Change” on December 4, from 3.30pm to 5.30pm, to be held in the Institute's auditorium (Technical Building).
The impact on the Earth's climate and temperatures of burning fossil fuels, deforestation and changes in land use is increasing. The huge quantities of greenhouse gases from these activities add to the quantities naturally present in the atmosphere, reinforcing the greenhouse effect and warming the planet.
The ocean absorbs most of the heat generated by global warming and its rate of warming has increased significantly at all depths in recent decades. From 1901 to 2023, the sea surface temperature increased by an average of 0.14ºC per decade, with a systematic increase in the last three decades, but with some regional variability. This warming necessarily causes it to expand, threatening coastal and island regions, varying circulation patterns and affecting marine fauna and flora, as well as all ocean ecosystems.
Mainland Portugal, surrounded by sea on its western (Atlantic Ocean) and southern (Atlantic Ocean with penetration of the Mediterranean Sea) coasts, is one of the countries that is certainly facing the effects of climate change, particularly in the sea that surrounds it.
The meeting reflected on some questions, such as:
- What effects (on temperature, salinity, currents, sea level) have already been detected in mainland Portugal?
- What effects on the quantity and distribution of marine fauna have already been detected in mainland Portugal?
- What impacts are already being felt on the economy of the sea in mainland Portugal?
- What mitigation measures are already being or should be adopted?
Speakers included IPMA colleagues such as the Head of the Climate and Climate Change Division, Ricardo Deus, or the researcher and paleoceanographer Fátima Abrantes, Carlos Antunes from the Faculty of Sciences, Dom Luiz Institute (University of Lisbon) and Joana Boavida-Portugal, from MARE-EU (University of Évora). The session will be chaired by the President of the Board of Directors, José Guerreiro.
The session was streamed on Zoom and recorded.
More than 100 people attended the session in person and remotely. In the debate, questions were raised about the importance of communicating science to the media and the public, particularly children and young people
Imagens associadas
Programa
President of IPMA´s Board of Directors José Guerreiro
President of OTC, Frederico Gama Carvalho
Moderator, Ana Maria Silva, retired lecturer and researcher at the Physics Department of the University of Évora and member of OTC
Ricardo Deus, Head of IPMA's Climate and Climate Change Division
Carlos Antunes, Researcher at the Faculty of Sciences of Lisbon / Dom Luiz Institute
Fátima Abrantes, Researcher at IPMA and CCMAR
Joana Boavida-Portugal, Centre for Marine and Environmental Sciences, University of Évora (MARE-EU)
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