An ocean narrative is a powerful tool for making complex ocean changes better accessible while informing decision-making and inspiring collective action. This ocean narrative reports on ocean change in the northeastern Atlantic and adjacent seas and discusses its broader implications for Europe’s environment, economy, and society. The region is experiencing warming and acidification at rates exceeding the global average, with rising sea levels and record severe marine heatwaves (MHWs). These changes threaten marine ecosystems, biodiversity, cultural heritage, and key economic sectors, such as aquaculture and coastal tourism, which rely heavily on the balance and the health of the ocean. This ocean narrative emphasizes the importance of regional ocean indicators for the northeastern Atlantic and adjacent seas and underscores the importance of localized responses, as ocean changes affect regions differently, particularly in semi-enclosed seas such as the Baltic Sea, the Black Sea, and the Mediterranean Sea. The findings stress the urgency of timely action and the need to strengthen evidence-based and strategic ocean knowledge transfer at the science and policy interface for informed decision-making that balances environmental sustainability, economic resilience, and social inclusivity to address the growing challenges of ocean change in the northeastern Atlantic and its adjacent seas.
Continue reading ‘Ocean change in the northeastern Atlantic and adjacent seas: a multi-dimensional challenge for the environment, society, and economy’Archive for the 'Newsletters and reports' Category
Ocean change in the northeastern Atlantic and adjacent seas: a multi-dimensional challenge for the environment, society, and economy
Published 17 October 2025 Newsletters and reports ClosedTags: chemistry, North Atlantic, policy, review, socio-economy
A collaborative assessment of coastal ocean acidification monitoring in Maine & standard operating procedures and best practices for the collection of continuous pH data in coastal marine environments
Published 16 October 2025 Newsletters and reports ClosedTags: chemistry, field, methods, North Atlantic
The ‘Sensor Squad’ of the Maine Ocean Climate Collaborative is the product of a 2023 Maine Coastal and Marine Climate Action Fund grant to conduct “A two-year pilot project designed to address and overcome technological barriers to ocean acidification data collection, develop protocols to elevate quality assurance and ensure comparable data, and meet regularly to discuss project results and data compilation”. The Squad consists of representatives from Friends of Casco Bay (FOCB), Wells National Estuarine Research Reserve (WNERR), and the University of New Hampshire (UNH). This report is a summary of their efforts to assess affordable, repeatable means of continuously monitoring ocean acidification.
Ocean and coastal acidification (OCA) are a growing concern, and efforts to monitor these changing and potentially damaging conditions are still emerging. This project will inform additional organizations that are working in collaborative ways to understand and track OCA and address goals of both the Maine Ocean Acidification Study Commission and the Maine Climate Council. The project involves field and lab studies to evaluate a glass electrode pH sensor, and then investigations into the use of a regression model to calculate total alkalinity as a second carbonate parameter.
Continue reading ‘A collaborative assessment of coastal ocean acidification monitoring in Maine & standard operating procedures and best practices for the collection of continuous pH data in coastal marine environments’Planetary Health Check 2025
Published 15 October 2025 Newsletters and reports ClosedTags: chemistry, review
The Planetary Health Check (PHC) Report provides an assessment of the state of our planet. It is based on the Planetary Boundaries (PBs) – the nine processes that are known to regulate the stability, resilience (ability to absorb disruptions) and life-support functions of our planet. Each of these processes, such as Climate Change or Ocean Acidification, is currently quantified by one or two Control variables. The 2025 PHC report concludes that seven out of nine Planetary Boundaries have been breached, with all of those seven showing trends of increasing pressure – suggesting further deterioration and destabilization of planetary health in the near future.
Continue reading ‘Planetary Health Check 2025’Global ocean change in the era of the triple planetary crisis
Published 15 October 2025 Newsletters and reports ClosedTags: chemistry, review
This ocean narrative is grounded in global ocean indicators and framed around climate, biodiversity, and sustainable development. In 2024, global ocean heat content (OHC) reached record levels, with continued heat uptake of 0.35 ± 0.1 W m−2 and steady acceleration of 0.14 ± 0.1 W m−2 per decade since the 1960s. Sea surface temperatures (SSTs) exceeded 21 °C globally in both 2023 and 2024, while global mean sea level rise reached its highest recorded rate of 4.1 ± 0.1 mm yr−1 (2016–2024). No part of the ocean is untouched by the so-called triple planetary crisis as proclaimed by the United Nations, where pollution, biodiversity loss, and climate change are putting pressure on marine systems worldwide. Over 8 % (10 %) of marine biodiversity hotspots, 8 % (11 %) of large marine ecosystems (LMEs), and 14 % (32 %) of Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction (ABNJ) are exposed to warming (acidification) beyond global rates. The triple planetary crisis converges across all ocean basins, with 16 % (30 %) of endangered (critically endangered) corals exposed to rapid ocean warming or acidification (rapid pH loss), and 75 % of countries emitting > 10 000 t plastic waste are near critically endangered and endangered corals. These overlapping pressures threaten key species, ecosystems, and the ocean’s role in climate stability. These findings underscore the need for enhanced and sustained ocean observing systems, improved information on uncertainties in indicator design, and robust science-based information to guide policy, planning, and action for protecting the ocean. The ocean is our sentinel, reflecting the health of the planet and the trajectory of future environmental changes. Protecting the ocean through concerted global cooperation informed by integrated evidence-based and strategic ocean knowledge is essential to ensure the ocean can continue to play its crucial role in sustaining life and regulating Earth’s climate.
Continue reading ‘Global ocean change in the era of the triple planetary crisis’National Coral Reef Monitoring Program socioeconomic monitoring component: summary findings for the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, 2024
Published 26 September 2025 Newsletters and reports ClosedTags: North Pacific, socio-economy
The Socioeconomic Component of the National Coral Reef Monitoring Program (NCRMP) collects socioeconomic data across all United States (U.S.) coral reef territories and jurisdictions to inform human dimensions indicators. These indicators fall under the broad categories of population demographics, human use of coral reef resources, and knowledge, attitudes, and perceptions of coral reefs and coral reef management. The overall goal of this endeavor is to understand the status and trends of each jurisdiction’s population, social and economic structure, interactions with coral reef resources, and responses to local coral reef management. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Coral Reef Conservation Program (CRCP) uses this information to help address coral reef issues at local, regional, and national levels, as well as to inform continuing research and communication products. NOAA CRCP staff, along with educators and managers in the jurisdictions, use this information to monitor changes in coral reef–dependent communities and jurisdictions and ensure outreach programs are designed to achieve their goals.
This report presents primary data collected for the second socioeconomic monitoring cycle in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) (the first monitoring cycle was completed in 2016). The household survey was conducted in person from February to March 2024. Results are representative of the CNMI resident population as a whole and island strata of Saipan, Tinian, and Rota. Key highlights from the results include:
- Activity Participation: Over 70% of CNMI residents participated in beach recreation and swimming/wading in both 2016 and 2024, and participation in most activities increased from 2016 to 2024.
- Seafood: Nearly all (98%) residents consumed seafood in at least some of their meals on average, and 84% of those residents ate seafood from local coral reefs.
- Importance of Coral Reefs: Over 80% of residents believed that CNMI’s coral reefs were extremely important for coastal protection, food, and human health. Two-thirds of residents also believed that coral reefs were important for cultural events (such as fiestas and ceremonies) and for establishing or maintaining social relationships and family ties.
- Perceived Resource Conditions: At least 50% of residents believed ocean water quality and the amount of fish in CNMI were good, but residents were generally split on whether these conditions will worsen or improve over the next 10 years.
- Threats to Coral Reefs: Residents were generally more familiar with a variety of threats to coral reefs in 2024 than they were in 2016. In 2024, the highest increase in familiarity was with coral bleaching. Between 46-49% identified coral bleaching, marine litter, pollution, and ocean acidification as severe threats to coral reefs.
- Support for Management Strategies: At least 80% of residents supported active coral reef restoration, community participation in marine resource management, new requirements for improved wastewater treatment, and increased restrictions on coastal construction practices to prevent soil and stormwater runoff. From 2016 to 2024, support level for various management strategies generally decreased but was still high overall.
- Marine Protected Areas: The majority of residents were aware of existing marine protected areas (MPAs) or marine preserves in CNMI. Over 70% of residents believed that MPAs have led to improved coral reef protection, and 64% believed that MPAs have improved the amount and size of fish. Perceptions of most MPA impacts were more negative in 2024 than they were in 2016, but residents were more likely to perceive positive impacts to fishermen livelihoods than in 2016.
- Conservation Behaviors: Over 80% of residents believed that it was extremely important for CNMI residents to engage in activities that help protect coral reefs. Most residents generally engaged in routine conservation-oriented behaviors such as reducing household electricity or water use or using fewer single-use plastics. Less than 50% of residents had taken longer-term actions such as maintaining or upgrading septic or sewer systems. Commonly stated barriers to action were lack of opportunity, lack of knowledge, and lack of permission.
- Awareness of Coral Reef Rules and Regulations: Nearly 90% of residents believed it was unacceptable to leave trash on the beach, and 60% believed it was unacceptable to anchor a boat on coral or remove coastal vegetation. Opinions were mixed about the acceptability of touching corals, operating a boat in shallow reef areas, having fires on the beach, and feeding fish, birds, or mammals, suggesting a potential need for more outreach to improve compliance through increased awareness of rules and regulations.
A policy analysis for climate adaptation in Japanese fisheries
Published 16 September 2025 Newsletters and reports ClosedTags: fisheries, North Pacific, policy
Japan plays a key role in the world’s production and consumption of seafood. In 2021, the fishing industry is estimated to have generated over 637 billion Japanese yen for the country’s GDP (Klein, 2024), and the Japanese government ranks as one of the top spenders globally in terms of public sector support for the fisheries sector (OECD, 2022). Additionally, Japan ranks the highest in per capita seafood consumption globally, constituting one of the top three markets for seafood (Guillen et al., 2019; Swartz et al., 2010).
Climate change is rapidly changing Japanese fisheries, which have long been a significant economic and cultural part of Japanese life. This time of change presents an opportunity for the Japanese government to reconsider its approach to fisheries management. Particularly, it presents an opportunity to center equity values in fisheries management, which have traditionally been overlooked relative to other public values such as economy, effectiveness, and efficiency. As climate impacts disproportionately disadvantage marginalized populations in fisheries, it is crucial to incorporate an environmental justice perspective into policymaking. This time of change serves as an opportunity to dismantle long-standing institutions that have been perpetuating social inequities.
This report presents a policy analysis for climate adaptation in Japanese fisheries. The policy analysis report is prepared for the Fisheries Agency of Japan. The objective is to provide the Japanese government with an assessment of policy options that they can consider for climate change adaptation. Findings are discussed in the form of tradeoffs between policy options. We seek to promote equitable policymaking by incorporating equity assessments into our policy analysis.
Continue reading ‘A policy analysis for climate adaptation in Japanese fisheries’Ocean and coastal acidification monitoring priorities for the Northeast US and Eastern Canada
Published 20 August 2025 Newsletters and reports ClosedTags: North Atlantic, policy
The Interagency Working Group on Ocean Acidification Monitoring Prioritization Plan 2024 calls for Coastal Acidification Networks to identify the ocean and coastal acidification (OCA) monitoring needs most important for their regions. The Northeast Coastal Acidification Network (NECAN) organized a webinar series to study regional needs, which culminated with a workshop in November 2023. This workshop led to the identification of six priority new Monitoring Needs in addition to the maintenance of current monitoring efforts:
- Improve spatial and temporal scale of monitoring co-located OCA variables and biological measurements to better resolve variability of acidification dynamics in concert with biological processes
- Increase subsurface monitoring to understand how conditions vary at depth
- Increase the number of high-frequency monitoring assets that measure at least two of four carbon parameters
- Increase near-real-time and rapid response observing capacity for episodic events
- Determine fluxes and rates that would help parameterize and constrain regional modeling efforts to understand past conditions and project future trends
- Increase spatial coverage of “climate”-quality observations
This report presents monitoring needs and opportunities for consideration by coastal managers, decision makers, researchers, and monitoring groups. It offers options to apply new capacity or funding to the expansion of OCA monitoring in the NECAN region. Writing the report led to the identification of eight cross-cutting actions which will lead to the implementation of these Monitoring Needs:
- Expand monitoring beyond carbonate chemistry to provide a complete assessment of OCA, its effects, and future trends.
- Enhance or leverage existing monitoring platforms for a cost-effective and collaborative approach to creating a more complete OCA monitoring system in the NECAN region.
- Expand the NECAN membership to include protected area experts, terrestrial biogeochemists and hydrologists, fisheries experts, social scientists, Tribal liaisons, project leads from large assessments, and other important stakeholders, rights holders and decision makers.
- Increase funding in the Northeast to both sustain currently-stretched efforts and grow a more robust ocean acidification monitoring program.
- Pursue immediate implementation of proxy approaches or interim strategies for measurements with technological or capacity limitations, while new technologies are being developed.
- Synthesize monitoring information to advance the understanding of OCA in the region.
- Deploy monitoring assets strategically, with end-user needs in mind, ensuring that the collected data is accessible, relevant, and useful for decision-making.
- Share NECAN’s experience in developing these recommendations with other Coastal Acidification Networks and regional monitoring programs.
Chemical and biological oceanographic conditions in the Labrador Sea from 2019 to 2023
Published 10 July 2025 Newsletters and reports ClosedTags: chemistry, field, North Atlantic
The Atlantic Zone Off-Shelf Monitoring Program samples the AR7W line annually. This report summarises trends from 2019-2023 for three regions: AR7W-W (Labrador shelf and slope), AR7W-C (central Labrador Sea), and AR7W-E (Greenland shelf and slope). Samples revealed a continued increase in dissolved inorganic carbon and a decrease in pH from 2019 to 2023. Mean concentration of CFC-12 decreased in 2020, and SF6 continued its steady increase. Mean temperature from 0-100 m in the Labrador Sea was above normal in 2019, below normal on the next mission (2022), and near or above normal in 2023. Surface (0-100 m) nutrients were mainly below normal from 2019-2023, which could be attributed to mission timing. However, below-average deep nutrients (>100 m, less impacted by sampling timing) suggests a profound change in the biogeochemistry of the Labrador Sea. Integrated (0-100 m) chlorophyll-a was below normal in 2019 and in AR7W-E in 2022-2023, but above normal elsewhere, with a record high value in AR7W-C in 2022 caused by an unusually large bloom of Phaeocystis spp.. Satellite data revealed high variability in the timing of the spring and fall blooms and surface average chlorophyll-a concentration. Mesozooplankton abundances showed high interannual variability since 2019.
Continue reading ‘Chemical and biological oceanographic conditions in the Labrador Sea from 2019 to 2023’Report presenting the data quality aspects in relation with the submission mechanism requested to report towards the SDG indicator 14.3.1
Published 7 July 2025 Newsletters and reports ClosedTags: chemistry, methods
This document is MINKE’s Deliverable 9.12 “Report presenting the data quality aspects in relation with the submission mechanism requested to report towards the SDG indicator 14.3.1”. It describes MINKE perspectives on the monitoring of carbonate system variables, in particular pHT, in order to address the SDG 14.3 request regarding ocean acidification. The D9.12 summarises the carbonate chemistry Best Practices, uncertainty concepts and calculations discussed within MINKE and will be useful for reporting carbonate variables to the SDG ocean acidification portal.
Continue reading ‘Report presenting the data quality aspects in relation with the submission mechanism requested to report towards the SDG indicator 14.3.1’A mid-decade check-in: the NOAA ocean, coastal, and Great Lakes acidification research plan 2020-2029
Published 19 May 2025 Newsletters and reports ClosedStarting in 2020, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has carried out research guided by the Ocean, Coastal, and Great Lakes Acidification Research Plan: 2020-2029 (the Research Plan). In the ensuing years, NOAA has tracked progress towards implementing the actions in the Research Plan. As we move into the second half of the decade, we would like to take this opportunity to take stock of the progress NOAA has made and reflect on the work ahead to continue to advance the research goals.
Continue reading ‘A mid-decade check-in: the NOAA ocean, coastal, and Great Lakes acidification research plan 2020-2029’Safeguarding South-East Asia’s marine ecosystems from ocean acidification threats
Published 28 March 2025 Newsletters and reports ClosedTags: Indian, policy, South Pacific
The increasing carbon dioxide emissions from human activities are being absorbed by the oceans, leading to a decrease in seawater pH levels worldwide. South-East Asia is particularly vulnerable to this problem, as the projected trend of ocean acidification severely threatens marine life in the region, as well as marine industry productivity and food safety. Urgent action must be taken by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Secretariat and its Member States to sustain coastal populations’ livelihoods and economic prosperity.
Recommendations:
- Improve marine protected areas (MPAs) by applying science-based design and grass-roots community participation
- Establish a regional task force and collaborative funding
- Increase public awareness and implement marine educational programmes through curriculum integration
State of the global climate 2024
Published 26 March 2025 Newsletters and reports , Press releases , Science ClosedTags: chemistry, video/audio
Key messages
- Key climate change indicators again reach record levels
- Long-term warming (averaged over decades) remains below 1.5°C
- Sea-level rise and ocean warming irreversible for hundreds of years
- Record greenhouse gas concentrations combined with El Niño and other factors to drive 2024 record heat
- Early warnings and climate services are vital to protect communities and economies
The annually averaged global mean near-surface temperature in 2024 was 1.55 °C ± 0.13 °C above the 1850–1900 average. This is the warmest year in the 175-year observational record, beating the previous record set only the year before. While a single year above 1.5 °C of warming does not indicate that the long-term temperature goals of the Paris Agreement are out of reach, it is a wake-up call that we are increasing the risks to our lives, economies and the planet.
Over the course of 2024, our oceans continued to warm, sea levels continued to rise, and acidification increased. The frozen parts of Earth’s surface, known as the cryosphere, are melting at an alarming rate: glaciers continue to retreat, and Antarctic sea ice reached the second-lowest extent ever recorded. Meanwhile, extreme weather continues to have devastating consequences around the world.
In response, WMO and the global community are intensifying efforts to strengthen early warning systems and climate services to help decision-makers and society at large be more resilient to extreme weather and climate. We are making progress but need to go further and need to go faster. Only half of all countries worldwide have adequate multi-hazard early warning systems. This must change.
Investment in National Meteorological and Hydrological Services is more important than ever to meet the challenges and build safer, more resilient communities. Authoritative scientific information and knowledge is necessary to inform decision-making in our rapidly changing world, and this report provides the latest science-based update on the state of our knowledge of key climate indicators
New edition of the OA-ICC highlights: June – December 2024
Published 20 March 2025 Newsletters and reports Closed
The OA-ICC has released a new edition of the OA-ICC Highlights, which covers main activities and events taken up by the project from June to December of 2024. Updates in this issue include:
- Launch of New Technical Cooperation Project with Ocean Acidification Component
- Annual OA-ICC Expert Group Meeting
- Basic Training Workshopon Ocean Acidification
- Annual Meeting of the SCOR project Changing Ocean Biological Systems
- International Workshop on the Socio-Economic Impacts of Multiple Stressors
- IAEA and Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation Strengthen Long-Term Partnership on Ocean Acidification
- Ocean Acidification Capacity Development Workshop
- 2nd Winter School on Ocean Acidification and Multiple Stressors
- 4th edition of OA Week
- OA-ICC at COP29
Previous editions of the “OA-ICC Highlights” can be viewed here.
OA-ICC, 20 March 2025. Newsletter.
Ocean acidification around the UK and Ireland
Published 5 March 2025 Newsletters and reports ClosedTags: biological response, chemistry, field, modeling, North Atlantic, regionalmodeling, review
KEY FACTS
What is already happening
- Atmospheric CO2 exceeded 420 ppm in 2024 and has continued to increase by approximately 2.5 ppm per year over the last decade. The global ocean absorbs approximately a quarter of anthropogenic carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions annually.
- The North Atlantic Ocean contains more anthropogenic CO2 than any other ocean basin, and surface waters are experiencing an ongoing decline in pH (increasing acidity). Rates of acidification in bottom waters are occurring faster at some locations than in surface waters.
- Some species are already showing effects from ocean acidification when exposed to short-term fluctuations and could be used as indicator species for long-term impacts on marine ecosystems.
What could happen in the future
- Models project that the average continental shelf seawater pH will continue to decline to year 2050 at similar rates to the present day, with rates then increasing in the second half of the century, depending on the emissions scenario.
- The rate of pH decline in coastal areas is projected to be faster in some areas (e.g. Bristol Channel) than others, such as the Celtic Sea.
- Under high-emission scenarios, it is projected that bottom waters on the North-West European Shelf seas will become corrosive to moresoluble forms of calcium carbonate (aragonite). Episodic undersaturation events are projected to begin by 2030.
- By 2100, up to 90% of the north-west European shelf seas may experience undersaturation for at least one month of each year.
- High levels of nearshore variability in carbonate chemistry may mean that some coastal species have a higher adaptative capacity than others. However, all species are at increased risk from extreme exposure episodes.
Workshop summary for policymakers, sixth international workshop bridging the gap between ocean acidification impacts and economic valuation: an interdisciplinary approach to address multiple ocean stressors
Published 14 February 2025 Newsletters and reports , Resources ClosedTags: policy
In October 2024, the Monaco Scientific Center (CSM) and the Marine Environment Laboratories of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) jointly organized the Sixth International Workshop on Bridging the Gap Between Ocean Acidification Impacts and Economic Valuation: An Interdisciplinary Approach to Address Multiple Ocean Stressors.
This interdisciplinary workshop addressed various environmental stressors to coastal marine ecosystems and their often-compounding impacts to ecosystem services. The overarching goal was to explore the complex interactions between local stressors (pollution, non-indigenous species, plastics, eutrophication) and global stressors (ocean warming, ocean acidification). These stressors do not operate in isolation; instead, they often occur in parallel, which may intensify their impacts on biodiversity, ecosystem services, and human health. These combined challenges hinder progress towards Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including, Life Below Water (SDG 14), Climate Action (SDG 13), Responsible Consumption and Production (SDG 12), Clean Water and Sanitation (SDG 6), No Hunger (SDG 2) and No Poverty (SDG 1). Examining the connections between these multiple stressors provides insights into the economic and societal costs of inaction and potential solutions to address them. This workshop convened an interdisciplinary group of 26 experts from 12 countries, equally distributed between the Global South and North, and included balanced gender representation. Participants formed four working groups to discuss key local stressors (i.e., pollution, plastics, eutrophication, and non-indigenous species) in the context of co-occurring global stressors driven by greenhouse gases emissions (GHGs). The groups identified solutions grounded on research evidence and formulated policy recommendations that reflect the need for an integrated approach to achieve ocean sustainability.
Continue reading ‘Workshop summary for policymakers, sixth international workshop bridging the gap between ocean acidification impacts and economic valuation: an interdisciplinary approach to address multiple ocean stressors’Ocean climate change and ocean acidification indicators for Ireland’s marine strategy framework directive
Published 27 January 2025 Newsletters and reports ClosedTags: North Atlantic, policy
Oceanographic physical and chemical processes underpin the functioning of marine ecosystems; changes to these marine environmental conditions due to human activity could significantly impact marine life. Monitoring and assessing these processes, and their interplay with biological systems provide insights into the current impacts of climate change and allow us to parameterise models which can help us understand what could happen to marine ecosystems under different climate scenarios. Currently, the monitoring and assessment of ocean climate change is not mandated under any EU legislation. Recent guidance from the European Commission has made recommendations on how Member States could consider climate change within the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) and paves the way for its potential inclusion in this Directive. This report explores how Ireland could integrate climate change into MSFD assessments through linking potential new and existing MSFD indicators with associated Essential Ocean Variables.
Systematic measurements of essential ocean variables underpin our understanding of ocean climate change and ocean acidification. Ireland monitors a number of essential ocean variables through fixed moorings, annual surveys, and sentinel sites. Data collected through these monitoring programmes are included in national, regional, and international assessments and reports, including the Global Carbon Budget. Ireland included thirty-four indicators in their Article 8 assessment in 2024 and current essential ocean variable monitoring data is used to assess some of these indicators. This provides an initial link between MSFD reporting and essential ocean variables and presents a starting point of how climate change could be integrated more in MSFD assessments.
Continue reading ‘Ocean climate change and ocean acidification indicators for Ireland’s marine strategy framework directive’New York State climate impacts assessment chapter 05: ecosystems
Published 20 December 2024 Newsletters and reports , Science ClosedTags: North Atlantic, review
The people of New York have long benefited from the state’s diversity of ecosystems, which range from coastal shorelines and wetlands to extensive forests and mountaintop alpine habitat, and from lakes and rivers to greenspaces in heavily populated urban areas. These ecosystems provide key services such as food, water, forest products, flood prevention, carbon storage, climate moderation, recreational opportunities, and other cultural services. This chapter examines how changes in climatic conditions across the state are affecting different types of ecosystems and the services they provide, and considers likely future impacts of projected climate change. The chapter emphasizes how climate change is increasing the vulnerability of ecosystems to existing stressors, such as habitat fragmentation and invasive species, and highlights opportunities for New Yorkers to adapt and build resilience.
Continue reading ‘New York State climate impacts assessment chapter 05: ecosystems’Ocean acidification and biodiversity loss: connecting the dots with data
Published 16 October 2024 Newsletters and reports , Science ClosedTags: chemistry, policy, socio-economy
About the report
Ocean acidification and biodiversity loss: Connecting the dots with data is a report written by Economist Impact for Back to Blue, an initiative of Economist Impact and The Nippon Foundation. The purpose of this report is to highlight the need for ocean scientists to prove causal links between ocean acidification (OA) and damage to marine species, and the challenges involved in doing so.
Summary
The world is living through a biodiversity crisis. The rapid pace at which animal and plant species have declined in recent decades has led some experts to declare that another mass extinction is under way. What distinguishes this from previous periods of accelerated biodiversity loss are its causes. Whereas naturally occurring events—some sudden and cataclysmic, others more gradual—were the triggers in pre-historic times, human actions are the root cause of species decline today. They include over-hunting, over-fishing and over-farming, but potentially the most devastating in the long term is climate change brought about by our unrelenting carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions.
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The impacts of emissions-induced climate change are readily evident in the world’s oceans, perhaps most vividly in the decline of warm water coral reefs caused by warming. Excess CO2 emissions—more than the oceans can safely absorb—are putting many other marine species under direct threat, such as several forms of plankton and shellfish. Those excess emissions also cause ocean acidification (OA), which changes seawater chemistry in ways that make it difficult for many organisms to survive or thrive.
Scientists understand the malign connection between OA and changes to ocean chemistry and biological processes. Many have highlighted the biodiversity loss that will result from OA, and the follow-on harm it will cause to marine ecosystems and the communities that rely on them for food and livelihoods. Policymakers and international organisations are generally aware of the threat that OA poses. The UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) has mandated member countries to actively combat it, and many are putting action plans in place for that purpose. At national, regional and local levels, however, where action is most vital, competing priorities too often deprive those plans of resources and impetus.
Ocean experts advocating for action against OA worry that their efforts are not creating sufficient urgency among policymakers. OA’s effects are not easy to see, unlike other manifestations of climate change. Therefore, scientists are seeking to provide incontrovertible evidence by demonstrating causality between OA and species decline. Doing so will perform another service: making it easier to determine whether OA is or is not the major stressor on marine life in specific environments, reducing the chances that remedial actions are misdirected and cause unintended harm.
Proving causality cannot be done through laboratory research alone. It requires extensive data gathering in the field, where OA’s impact on organisms can be observed in real (not simulated) environments. It also demands much closer co-ordination between researchers monitoring ocean chemistry and those monitoring biological processes— activities that thus far have been unconnected. Although decades of data gathering may be needed before some correlations are proven, the ocean experts pressing for a new approach to research believe many correlations will become manifest in the next few years.
This report discusses how current ocean research approaches can be adapted to yield such correlations. And while decades may be required for some findings to be confirmed, the report also highlights opportunities to demonstrate causality today—environments where the impacts on biodiversity can be viewed in isolation from other stressors. When it comes to prodding policymakers into action, such results could bear fruit sooner rather than later.
Key takeaways
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Back to Blue Initiative, September 2024. Report.
About the Copernicus Ocean State Report
The Ocean State Report is an annual publication of the Copernicus Marine Service, implemented by Mercator Ocean International, which provides a global overview on ocean climate and ocean health for scientists, policymakers, the blue business community and the general public. The goal of the Ocean State Report is to provide reliable and scientifically-assured information, drawing on data from the 1970s to the present. The OSR 8 has been established under international scientific collaboration, with contributions from over 120 participants.
The 8th issue of the EU Copernicus Ocean State Report (OSR 8) is now available online, published alongside an interactive Summary detailing key aspects of the report for policymakers, members of the blue economy and the general public. This year’s report reveals — among many findings — an ocean facing record-breaking extreme events, including deep and intense marine heatwaves, unexpected phytoplankton blooms, as well as increased ocean warming.
The Ocean State Report 8: a reference for the ocean
The OSR 8 is a flagship report, which provides a comprehensive overview of the current state, ongoing trends and natural variations of the ocean. It is published each year by the Copernicus Marine Service and implemented by Mercator Ocean International. Beyond highlighting major results, the Summary showcases a range of Ocean Monitoring Indicators which monitor trends and variations in the changing ocean. These are updated and scientifically discussed in a new Chapter 1 “The State of the Ocean” in the OSR 8, which provides an overview of the current state of the global ocean. It details extreme events in Europe and around the world, explains key ocean processes and how they interact with the global climate, and highlights several innovations and technologies helping us to monitor the ocean and live in harmony with it.
The Summary is split into three main sections:
- The State of The Ocean;
- Ocean-Climate Interactions;
- and Ocean & Society: Innovations.
Throughout the Summary, coloured icons set the context of the findings for the Blue Ocean (physical state), Green Ocean (biological and biogeochemical state), and White Ocean (sea ice).
State-of-the-art scientific findings
The OSR 8 is the culmination of a significant international scientific endeavour, involving over 120 experts from institutions across Europe and around the world. The findings pass through an independent process of peer review in collaboration with the scientific journal State of the Planet, and are supported by satellite observations, in situ measurements and state-of-the art computer modelling.
The state of the ocean
The OSR 8 explores the state of the ocean over recent decades, with a specific focus on 2022 and 2023. Among others findings, it reports an ocean characterised by increased warming, melting sea ice, widespread and intensifying marine heatwaves, and an extreme phytoplankton bloom.
The coastal waters around the Balearic Islands reached 29.2ºC in August 2022. This record-breaking temperature was the highest reached in this region for forty years. Other records were broken in the Iberian-Biscay-Ireland region in 2022, where marine heatwaves — temporary, prolonged, and anomalously warm water events — lasted 145 days on average, with temperatures reaching 6°C higher than normal.
As detailed in the OSR 8, heightened temperatures are being seen around the world.
- In 2023, 22% of the global ocean surface experienced at least one severe to extreme marine heatwave event.
- In 2022, nearly two-thirds of the Baltic Sea suffered marine heatwaves, while in the summer and autumn temperatures were the third warmest since 1997.
In the Mediterranean sea, marine heatwaves in 2022 stretched down through the water column, reaching depths of up to 1,500m below the surface. While marine heatwaves were found to be more frequent at the surface, higher temperatures which lasted for longer appeared below 150m.
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Continue reading ‘Ocean State Report 8’New edition of the “OA-ICC Highlights” Oct 2023 – May 2024
Published 25 June 2024 Newsletters and reports Closed
This new edition of the OA-ICC Highlights covers the main activities and events taken up by the project from the end of last year up until May of 2024. Including a virtual symposium during GOA-ON’s OA week 2023, the second edition of the GOOD-OARS-CLAP-COPAS International Summer School in Chile, a Workshop on Communicating Ocean Acidification in Costa Rica, the final meeting of a coordinated research project on “Evaluating the Impacts of Ocean Acidification on Seafood – A Global Approach”, the OA-ICC’s contribution to COP28 in Dubai, the OA-ICC’s contributions to multiple Monaco Ocean Week 2024 events, and finally the OA-ICC’s contributions to the UN Ocean Decade Conference in Barcelona. This edition also includes changes in OA-ICC staff as well as the upcoming OA-ICC events for 2024.
Previous editions of the “OA-ICC Highlights” can be viewed here.
OA-ICC, 3 July 2024. Newsletter.
