In order to tackle an increase in temperature which will no doubt have an impact on the marine ecosystem for example through shifts in the species compositions in the sea, expert European scientists gathered by ESF's Marine Board recommend to

1. Enhance evaluation of the impact of climate change on the European marine and coastal environment; this will require a concerted effort to gather, store and analyse previously and presently collected marine environmental data (e.g. common open access database and annual Pan-European reporting based on national contributions);
2. Identify the nature and rate of consequences of climate change in European marine and coastal waters; this will require the maintainance of sustained monitoring efforts and use of new technologies to increase their spatial and temporal resolution;
3. Predict the consequences of climate change for our marine environment; this will require the development and measurement of parameters (e.g. indicators) which are indicative of the underlying mechanisms of climate-induced changes;
4. Predict the response and feedback of marine environments and ecosystems to climate change; this will require the improvement of regional climate models and the development of biophysical models;
5. Predict the impact on climate change on the distribution of marine organisms and on marine food webs; this will require the inclusion of knowledge on species’ physiology, bioenergetics and behaviour in biophysical and ecosystem models.