This statement is being produced in order to spread the knowledge of the accepted scientific facts and new developments as they occur, to explain the developing science clearly and simply to both Institute members and to the wider marine community. The aim is to inform and unite the Membership in their understanding of climate change science. IMarEST recognises that climate change is the most important threat facing humanity, in that its effects will be global and may locally be severe. While climate change is a natural process, it is now being enhanced by human activity, especially emissions of greenhouse gases, which have added significantly to the natural factors forcing climate change.

There is evidence that recent observed changes in climate have already affected a variety of physical and biological systems these effects can be attributed to global warming (IPCC, 2007). This statement is being produced to examine the impacts of future climate change and sea-level rise on, for example, marine ecosystems, marine resources, food security, human health, coastal and low-lying regions and marine industries.

This statement is being produced to look at the pivotal role marine engineering, science and technology can play in enabling adaptation to the impacts of climate change particularly with respect to coastal infrastructure, marine industries and marine ecosystems. Adaptation has the potential to reduce adverse impacts of climate change and to enhance beneficial impacts, but will incur costs and will not prevent all damages. In addition, vulnerability needs to be considered with extremes, regional variability, and rates of change all key features.

The IMarEST is committed to supporting marine engineering and technological solutions with significant potential to achieve long-term reductions in anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions and showing leadership in support of the development and deployment of clean marine energy technologies and energy efficiency. This position statement will examine appropriate mitigation measures to limit or prevent greenhouse gas emissions arising from marine activities, particularly shipping.

This position statement will examine the suitability of the use of marine technologies for removal of greenhouse gases from the atmosphere.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) was set up jointly by the World Meteorological Organization and the United Nations Environment Programme to provide an authoritative international statement of scientific understanding of climate change. The IPCC’s periodic assessments of the causes, impacts and possible response strategies to climate change are the most comprehensive and up-to-date reports available on the subject, and form the standard reference for all concerned with climate change in academia, government and industry worldwide. Through three working groups, many hundreds of international experts assess climate change. The most recent report, the 4th Assessment Report consists of three main volumes under the umbrella title Climate Change 2007.

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At the initiative of the Royal Society, a group of sixteen national academies of science from all parts of the world agreed a statement about the science of climate change. The statement endorses the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change as the most reliable source of information on climate change and its causes. The statement calls for prompt action to be taken to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases and recognises the ratification of the Kyoto Protocol as a small but essential first step towards stabilising atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases. The statement was printed in Science on 18 May 2001.

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Additionally the Royal Society website contains a large information resource on the topic of climate change including a simple guide to climate change controversies, facts and fiction about climate change and guide to international climate change policies

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The Met Office website features a number of up-to-date articles on climate change including explanations for some of the more complex facts about climate change. A number of pages also look at the impacts of global warming on everything from developing countries to household gardens.


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The COMET program runs a 2-hour module giving an overview of the factors that change Earth’s climate and why scientists think human activities are altering the climate in ways that are both problematic for both human and natural systems. The module also discusses the evidence for a changing climate and how scientists think the climate will change in the next century if greenhouse gas concentrations continue to rise. The module concludes with some ideas on how to mitigate the changes. The module is free but registration is required.


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A free-access web resource from Nature Publishing Group, Nature Reports Climate Change is dedicated to authoritative in-depth reporting on climate change and its wider implications for policy, society and the economy. This web resource includes a climate policy timeline, a page specifically dedicated to the “Road to Copenhagen” and a climate feedback blog.


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This statement is consistent with the vast weight of current scientific understanding as expressed in assessments and reports from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the U. S. National Academy of Sciences, and the U. S. Climate Change Science Program. All these reports recognize the uncertainties in climate projections, and identify the scientific work needed to reduce those uncertainties. Although the statement has been drafted in the context of concerns in the United States, the underlying issues are inherently global in nature.


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