“Climate change discussions need to reflect and embrace the status and role of the world’s oceans,” say co-authors Dan Laffoley, Vice Chair, IUCN World Commission on Protected Areas, and John Baxter, leading marine conservation and climate change expert, in a new report that examines the impacts of ocean warming.
Photo: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (CC BY 2.0)To the average person, climate change may be synonymous with melting glaciers or an increasing likelihood of heat waves. Politicians and climate negotiators may be more focussed on deals related to keeping land surface temperature rises to within 2oC in the 21st century. The risk in all of this is that we neglect to consider the oceans, which cover 70% of the world’s surface, within the context of climate change.
This would be a truly staggering omission.
Oceans play a hugely important role in regulating the global climate and they are the world’s largest carbon store. Climate change discussions need to reflect and embrace the status and role of the world’s oceans; if we don’t ensure that our oceans are healthy and that marine ecosystems are resilient, we will have failed, even if we achieve climate targets.
Oceans ultimately sustain us all. They produce at least half of the oxygen we breathe. They provide over 1 billion people with their primary source of protein. Oceans are home to 80% of the world’s biodiversity. They are integral to many cultures.
This September, at the IUCN World Conservation Congress in Hawai’i, IUCN will launch a new landmark publication on ocean warming. This report is the most comprehensive analysis to date of the changes now sweeping through marine ecosystems. Involving a large number of leading global experts, the report will look in detail at the impacts of warming temperatures on the ocean, from well-known species like mangroves and tuna to lesser-known ecosystems like the deep sea benthos. It will present the views of scientists on changes that are underway and what these may mean for the many benefits we derive from the ocean in the future.
For too long the impact of warming on the ocean has been ‘hidden’ to many people; this report will open up this issue to a much broader audience. We look forward to sharing this ground-breaking work and encourage you to engage in the important discussions about ocean management at the Oceans Pavilion and Congress events that focus on marine and coastal initiatives and partnerships.
— Dan Laffoley, Vice Chair, IUCN World Commission on Protected Areas, and John Baxter, leading marine conservation and climate change expert
