Reflections and the future...

It is actually with some sadness that I write what will be (for now!) my last post for this blog that I have been keeping as part of the 'Global Environmental Change' course I have been taking at uni...I have thoroughly enjoyed writing it and have learnt a great deal about our oceans and how they are responding to increasing environmental stressors as a result of climate change and other human-induced changes.

Before writing this blog, I must admit that I was fairly unaware of the harm we are doing to the planet's oceans; as I said way back in my first post, the first thoughts of many people when the words 'climate change' are mentioned are the depletion of the ozone layer and melting sea ice...

That's not to say that these things are unimportant (far from it!) but with the oceans covering 70% of the Earth's surface and with 80% of life depending on healthy coasts and oceans, their importance is abundantly clear. Humanity is changing the nature of our oceans in a way that is unprecedented in the Earth's history. Throughout this blog I have explored issues such as increasing sea temperatures, acidification, coral bleaching and the mounting problem of plastic pollution in our oceans. All of these changes are affecting ocean ecosystems and with the ocean being so vast, the full effects are simply immeasurable. I think this is perhaps the most worrying problem of all: that we do not know the ocean's ability to cope with such changes nor what the future holds, we can only make predictions...

We have now recognised that serious efforts must be made in order to curb humanity's impact on the planet and for the first time in history, over 200 countries have reached a consensus on how to attempt to limit global temperature increase to 2 degrees Celsius or less above pre-industrial levels. Whether or not this can be achieved still hangs in the balance.

There are many organisations (some of which I have written about) that are dedicated to ocean protection and conservation though we still need recognition of the issue on a global scale.
Surprisingly, it is some of the smallest island nations that are making the biggest changes in order to protect the ocean. The Pacific island nation of Palau has created landmark legislation which closes off 80% of its marine zone and in doing so, creates a vast ocean sanctuary. This area is larger than California (roughly 193, 000 square miles) and is the largest protected ocean zone in the world.

Research has shown that creating large protected marine areas can help quell the effects of climate change by allowing marine populations to increase and for vulnerable species' populations to stabilise. It is hoped that these benefits can spread to other parts of the ocean.

Palau is just one of several island nations working with The Pew Charitable Trusts' Global Ocean Legacy campaign that is seeking to establish more fully protected marine reserves. There are plans for a marine park around Easter Island and last March, the UK government announced plans to establish a huge marine reserve around the Pitcairn Islands.

But even with these commitments, the fact remains that less than 2% of the ocean is highly protected and marine scientists argue that this figure needs to be at least 30% to have a significant impact on its health.

With the oceans playing a role in the planet's climate and providing many fundamental ecosystem services, we can only begin to mitigate the effects of climate change, if we begin by repairing the damage to the oceans.