Predicting the Future Ocean: The Nereus Program

Will there be seafood and a healthy ocean for future generations to enjoy? That is the central question for the Nereus Program, a collaborative and capacity-building effort of the Nippon Foundation, University of British Columbia, Princeton University, Duke University, UNEPs World Conservation Monitoring Centre, Cambridge University, and the Stockholm Resilience Centre. While there is considerable experience predicting the impact of climate change on our physical environment, the question of how climate change will impact life, be it on land or in the oceans, is largely unexplored, as is knowledge of adaptive measures. To evaluate implications for the global ocean, the nine-year Nereus program focuses on research, capacity building and outreach. Through this, we have developed a complex model of life in the global ocean called the Nereus model, and we here use this model to evaluate impact of climate change and fisheries at the global level.