Chapter 2, Climate change: overview and drivers

ABSTRACT

The chapter provides a brief introduction to the underlying causes of climate change in the deep ocean, and the mechanisms by which these affect deep-ocean ecosystems (Figure 2). Climate change is interpreted in the broad sense here and incorporates the many changes in ocean environments linked to atmospheric and ocean warming and/ or ocean acidification, including oxygen loss, changes in POC flux to depth, altered hydrodynamics and circulation, as well as bentho-pelagic coupling.