"For many decades, the world's #oceans have been the Earth's 'get-out-of-jail card' when it comes to #ClimateChange.
Not only do they absorb around a quarter of the carbon dioxide that humans produce, they also soak up around 90% of the excess heat.
But over the past year, the oceans have displayed the most concerning evidence yet that they are struggling to cope, with the sea surface particularly feeling the heat."
"Bishop’s story, from birth to presumed death, shows the extreme danger facing right #whales, which could be #extinct in three decades if they continue to disappear at the present rate.
#ClimateChange: World's #oceans suffer from record-breaking year of heat
50 days have smashed existing highs for the time of year by the largest margin in the satellite era. Planet-warming gases are mostly to blame, but the natural weather event #ElNinno has also helped warm the seas. Recent months have brought no respite, with the sea surface (#SST) reaching a new global average daily high of 21.09C in Feb and March this year, according to Copernicus data. https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-68921215#climatecrisis
'We invited biologists but they didn’t want to go because they said there’s nothing going on there. We constantly remind them they weren’t there when we made this historic biological discovery; we have to rub it in.’
It's the second mass bleaching event to spread
across the globe in the last 10 years
And the worst one on record for the Great Barrier Reef. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xi9uFA3-cDE
Today, learn about coral bleaching and the one billion lives that will continue to be deeply negatively affected by these events
with increasing frequency
in the coming years.
Sea Surface Temperatures (SSTs) continue to register at unprecedentedly high levels.
We usually ignore the SSTs but this is very important. When oceans surface temperatures rises above a certain level, the ocean becomes a desert. That is because a stable surface layer of warm water forms that stays unmixed with the cooler, nutrient-rich waters below.
At the 9th Our Ocean Conference in Athens, Mongabay’s Elizabeth Claire Alberts interviewed oceanographer and marine biologist Sylvia Earle about the pressures facing our oceans, actions needed to turn things around, and how to find hope for the future.
[Reporterre] - #ClaireNouvian : « Les océans, et donc l’humanité, sont en danger ».
Paradis fiscal, destruction de la vie marine, Sud spolié... La #PêcheIndustrielle, fortement subventionnée, est une catastrophe. Pour Claire Nouvian, inlassable défenseuse des #océans, lutter est une « question de justice sociale ».
Targeted culling of crown-of-thorns starfish has resulted in parts of the Great Barrier Reef maintaining and even increasing coral cover, leading researchers to call for the programme to be dramatically scaled up
Global plastic pollution treaty talks hit critical stage in Canada - “Each day, the equivalent of 2,000 garbage trucks full of plastic are dumped into the world’s oceans, rivers and lakes, according to the United Nations Environment Programme. People are increasingly breathing, eating and drinking tiny plastic particles.” If these talks don’t include product caps, manufacturing constraints, they won’t work. #Recycling is not enough by itself to stem the tide of #PlasticPollution#PFAS#plastic#environment#oceans#capitalism#pollutionhttps://apnews.com/article/aad9d558ffaaab65a7e6a9cdd1ebe50f
Many of India’s more than 4 million fishers are sailing beyond the country’s exclusive economic zone into the high seas in search of a better catch.
Rising sea surface temperatures, overfishing near the shore, and the destruction of reefs have decimated nearshore fisheries, forcing India’s fishers farther out to sea where they face greater risk.
And, the fourth stop on the drafting of a global plastics treaty is presently underway in Ottawa: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F77XFvSMTVo
A fifth and final summit will be held in South Korea later this year. Hopefully, whatever is decided upon has a binding, meaningful purpose, and isn't just a feel-good exercise. #PlasticPollution#PlasticPollutionTreaty#Oceans
Culling predatory starfish conserves coral on the Great Barrier Reef (www.newscientist.com)
Targeted culling of crown-of-thorns starfish has resulted in parts of the Great Barrier Reef maintaining and even increasing coral cover, leading researchers to call for the programme to be dramatically scaled up