Climate change that is linked to the build up of greenhouse gases and aerosols in the atmosphere has led to increases in the earth's surface temperatures over the last 50 years. As a result the water in the world's rivers, estuaries and the sea are also heating up. Fish are more susceptible to changes in temperature than many land-based animals.
Because their body temperature is the same as the water around them, fish cannot maintain a constant body temperature and cannot survive in temperatures too far out of their normal range. Consequently, of all of the physical stressors associated with climate change, temperature is considered to have the most impact on coastal fish.
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