Thermal Pollution and the Aggravating Effects of Climate Change: Impact of Thermal Stress on Aquatic Ecosystems

Eugene Itua, Roland Uwadiae and Omobolanle Victor-Laniyan

Aquatic systems have increasingly being under anthropogenic perturbation. Thermal pollution and climate change are among the most important pressures affecting aquatic ecosystems. Anthropogenic pressures usually generate cumulative and synergistic effects. Information on cumulative effects is important to aquatic resources management, since they may affect human uses of these systems and impair management action plans to reduce hazards and environmental risks. The aim of this study was to synthesize literature on the effects of thermal pollution and climate change and their cumulative effects of thermal stressors on aquatic ecosystems, with the view to identifying the solutions, methodological challenges in study design, research needs and gaps in knowledge. Results have shown that cumulative effects of thermal stress tend to be more common compared to negative and antagonistic outcomes. Cumulatively, thermal pollution and climate change present an unprecedented challenge to the global aquatic systems, while the impacts are being felt globally, some regions will be more acutely affected than others. Thermal stress has altered aquatic ecosystems worldwide and the patterns of change observed in recent decades are expected to continue and worsen in the near future, if no meaningful steps are taken. The study concludes with a call for in-depth studies, if we must unravel the complex responses of aquatic ecosystems to thermal pollution under climate change scenarios.

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