Journal of Marine Science: Research & Development
Open Access

Abstract

Understanding the importance and the implication of the climate changes on coastal areas is crucial for the mitigation of their impacts, as this issue is, already, one of the major challenges of our societies for the next centuries. Climate Changes may, indeed, impact the state of coastal marine ecosystems areas that sustain important marine resources and biodiversity. Indeed, these areas are very sensitive to the strength and the variability of the meteorological forcing, which depend on the. This presentation focuses on the analysis of some climate scenarios that can affect the strength of the upwelling, which is one of the most important physical events of the Portuguese coastal area. These scenarios represent for the average the following conditions significant changes of both the southerly and the westerly wind components. The results focus on the intensification of the alongshore southward current, which, as expected, generates offshore transport and impacts the coastal temperature, the nutrient availability, the Chl-a distribution and, therefore, the phytoplankton biomass distribution patterns. Climate Changes may, therefore, disturb the equilibrium among species that feed on phytoplankton, the basic level of the trophic chain of the coastal ecosystems.

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