Dear colleagues, my co-editors and I are excited to announce a new topic on Whales and Climate<https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/21055/whalesandclimate> in Frontiers in Marine Science. The aim of the Whales and Climate topic is to provide research that advances understanding of the complex relationship between baleen whales and climate change. Climate impacts on the marine environment are intrinsically complex; they are characterized by uncertainty, delays, non-linearities, and a multiplicity of pathways, which can mask the cause-effect relationships. We seek research that helps to quantify this complexity of interactions between climate change and mysticetus. The aim is set to shed light on how past, present, and future climate conditions influence a whale's life cycle such as breeding, feeding, migrating, and recovery. It is also to evaluate the relative vulnerability of different populations and species to climate change. Defining impacts and possible relationships with climate conditions can further advance modeling approaches and encourage the inclusion of future climate projections into whales and climate research. In the scope of this Research Topic are reviews and research contributions looking at mysticetus responses to climate change. The following areas are encouraged for submission: • Investigations into changes in breeding, feeding, and migration patterns in relation to climate conditions • Studies on strandings, entanglements, and health in relation to environmental drivers • Research in whales as climate engineers where whales influence climate conditions on a local and global scale • Aspects of future whale conservation under climate change requiring new adaptation strategies • Qualitative and quantitative modeling approaches that explore the dynamics of whale populations in response to climate change • Research that integrates climate-relevant variables (multiple pathways), combining whale physiology, biology, and behavior with oceanographic/biogeochemical, and climatic conditions There is support available for publication fees. Submissions can be made here: https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/21055/whalesandclimate Olaf Meynecke Research & Project Management Whales & Climate Program<http://www.whalesandclimate.org/> [cid:b5782c7b-ac46-411d-a98d-61098a451c65]<https://www.whalesandclimate.org/> [cid:8d22d53d-3176-43db-8ec8-a86cb6653d93]
