The Impacts of Multiple Stressors

This executive summary from the Stockholm Environment Institute describes the cumulative impact of global and local stressors on marine ecosystems. It highlights that over 40 percent of the marine environment is already affected by combined stressors, such as ocean warming, acidification, and overfishing. The document argues that current management strategies are often too narrow, focusing on single issues rather than the synergistic interactions between stressors, and calls for a cross-scale governance system to increase ecosystem resilience.

• A significant portion of the marine environment is currently affected by the simultaneous impact of multiple stressors, including pollution, overfishing, ocean acidification, deoxygenation, and rising temperatures. It is estimated that more than 40 percent of the marine environment is already impacted by these combined stressors.
• Marine stressors are categorized into global stressors (such as ocean acidification, deoxygenation, and increased temperature), which are primarily driven by CO2 emissions, and local to regional stressors (such as pollution, coastal hypoxia, and overfishing), which are linked to human population growth.
• Certain regions and ecosystems are identified as particularly vulnerable 'hotspots'. These include the Southern Ocean, the Arctic, the high-latitude North Pacific, and Eastern Boundary Upwelling Regions. Coral reefs are specifically highlighted as highly vulnerable, where local stressors like pollution and destructive fishing can undermine their resilience to global stressors like ocean warming and acidification.
• The interaction of multiple stressors can have severe economic and ecological consequences. In the northeast Atlantic, scenario modelling suggests that the combined impact of decreased oxygen and pH could reduce fisheries catch potential by 20 to 30 percent by 2050 under business-as-usual carbon emissions. In the Eastern Tropical Pacific, the combination of increasing temperature, decreasing pH, and deoxygenation may significantly impact the jumbo squid, a key predator in the region's food web.
• Managing local stressors can provide a temporal buffer against global stressors. For example, controlling nutrient concentrations can increase the thermal bleaching limits of corals, making them more resilient to ocean warming. The document advocates for a precautionary, integrated, and cross-scale governance system to address these complex interactions.

APA

Noone, K., Sumaila, R., Díaz, R. J., Hall, J., Gruber, N., & Wilhelmsson, D. (n.d.). The Impacts of Multiple Stressors. Stockholm Environment Institute. https://www.sei.org/mediamanager/documents/Publications/SEI-Preview-TheImpactsOfMultipleStressors-AComplexWebOfChallenges.pdf

Chicago

Noone, Kevin, Rashid Sumaila, Robert J Díaz, Julie Hall, Nicolas Gruber, and Dan Wilhelmsson. The Impacts of Multiple Stressors. Stockholm Environment Institute, n.d. https://www.sei.org/mediamanager/documents/Publications/SEI-Preview-TheImpactsOfMultipleStressors-AComplexWebOfChallenges.pdf.

Wikipedia

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BibTeX

@techreport{noonendimpacts, author = {Noone, Kevin and Sumaila, Rashid and Díaz, Robert J and Hall, Julie and Gruber, Nicolas and Wilhelmsson, Dan}, title = {{The Impacts of Multiple Stressors}}, institution = {Stockholm Environment Institute}, url = {https://www.sei.org/mediamanager/documents/Publications/SEI-Preview-TheImpactsOfMultipleStressors-AComplexWebOfChallenges.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }