Unless something shifts dramatically – and soon – humanity will overshoot global ambitions to hold temperature rise to 2°C this century.

In this special series, Future Forecast: Spotlight on the South-West, University of Melbourne journalism students take a deep dive into what this means on the ground – and in the ocean – for communities along Victoria’s south-west coast.

Part 2 of our series visits the $187m abalone industry in Victoria’s south-west waters, which has been hit with a viral double whammy – first by a shellfish virus, now human coronavirus. But industry leaders and scientists say there may be a silver lining in preparing for the looming threat of warmer waters.

This is part of an ongoing Citizen Regional Reporting Project, with future editions focusing on other parts of the state.

This audio report is a multimedia feature – click here to access – and co-published with ABC Regional on The Country Hour.