According to the Environmental Protection Agency, Scientists predict that climate change will have an effect on marine environments. Coastal upwelling is the process by which winds push surface water offshore and deep water moves towards the coast, bringing nutrients from the ocean floor to the surface. Thus, climate change is expected to alter the timing and intensity of coastal upwellings. Along the west coast of the United States, excess nutrients delivered by upwelling might lead to more algal blooms. Due to upwelling being the foundation in which organisms feed any negative impact that will happen to the upwelling process may be catastrophic to the food chain. Since upwelling of colder, nutrient-rich water is the foundation behind marine productivity, one possibility may be the enhancement of some of the world’s most important fisheries. However, solar heating due to greenhouse warming may also increase the persistence of “stratification,” or the horizontal layering of ocean water of different temperatures. The result could be a warm, near surface layer and a deep, cold layer. If this happens to a significant extent, it could increase global hypoxic, or low oxygen events, decouple upwelling from the supply of nutrient-rich water, and pose a significant threat to the global function of fisheries and marine ecosystems. The projected increase in upwelling, in other words, appears clear and definitive. But researchers say its biological impact is far less obvious, which is a significant concern. These upwelling systems cover less than 2 percent of the ocean surface, but contribute 7 percent to global marine primary production, and 20 percent of global fish catches.