In order to stop anthropogenic climate change, keep its worst effects to a minimum, and build a new and sustainable society, mankind must be determined to carry out a revolution. Climate systems science, which sees the ocean as a main factor, has provided the grounds for this conclusion. Through the integration of a variety of monitoring data and computer models we can not only expect increased understanding of natural processes, but also make progress in the development of early warning systems for extreme phenomena.

The impact of rising sea water temperatures due to global warming is already manifesting itself through the migratory and spawning behaviors of marine life, as well as their survival and growth. Assessing these impacts is vital to fisheries management and economics, and a higher prediction accuracy is called for. Marine ecosystems are complex and intertwined in space and time; and although it is difficult to assess the effects of global warming through simple mechanisms, it is crucial at this stage to clarify each cause-and-effect relationship.

There are a wide variety of benthic organisms boring into the rocky reefs. These bores serve as refuges not only for the boring organisms themselves but also for a variety of small benthic organisms. In view of this habitat creativity, the boring organisms are called “ecosystem engineers.” In this article I describe the ecology of the sea urchins, one of the most representative of the rocky reef ecosystem engineers, as well as their co-inhabitants.