The Impact of climatic changes is a fact that the world cannot ignore anymore. The global warming and its impact on the ocean habitats are becoming more and more evident with each passing day.

Canadian Fisheries Department have raised serious concerns on the impact of the climate changes on its multi billion dollar fishing industry. A report on the state of the Atlantic ocean has been published recently as a result of many scientific research and monitoring by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans & Environment and Climate Change. The rising sea temperatures, dip in ice coverage and change in currents are all evidently the result of global climate changes. The report says that all the three zone of the Atlantic ocean Newfoundland and Labrador, the Scotian Shelf and the Gulf of St Lawrence are undergoing environmental changes.

Increase in the sea temperature off Nova Scotia have resulted in the decline of certain species like the snow crab and northern shrimp and also an increase in the lobster population. Some species are shifting habitat altogether like the Silver hake that seems to have moved into Newfoundland. Many other warm water exotic species like the John dory and sea robin are also beginning to move into this region.

The impact of the climatic changes are seemingly happening at the bottom of the food chain. A copepod called Calanus finmarchicus that is energy rich is on the decline while the less nutritious variety called Pseudocalanus that thrive in warm water are on the rise. Such change can affect the entire food chain as it renders the ocean less productive.

Climatic changes are steadily and but most definitely not slowly damaging the food chain. Warmer sea waters, lesser oxygen and food levels in water are all important indicators of drastic climatic changes.