This paper reviews the evidence on slow-onset events presented in the Special Report on Climate Change and Land (SRCCL) and the Special Report on the Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate (SROCC), both published in 2019. It analyses how the reports, and recent literature cited in them, deal with the eight types of slow-onset events, specified by the UNFCCC: increasing temperatures, sea level rise, salinization, ocean acidification, glacial retreat, land degradation, desertification and loss of biodiversity. The authors used qualitative data analysis software to analyse the reports, and for each of the SOEs, they coded and analysed information about the state, rate of change, timescale, geography, drivers, impacts, management responses, adaptation limits and residual losses and damages. The paper provides an overview of the state of the art on SOEs and helps to identify gaps and challenges in understanding the nature of SOEs, their impact and effective management approaches.
Continue reading ‘Slow-onset events: a review of the evidence from the IPCC special reports on land, oceans and cryosphere’Posts Tagged 'policy'
Slow-onset events: a review of the evidence from the IPCC special reports on land, oceans and cryosphere
Published 15 April 2021 Science ClosedTags: policy, review
Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas, and marine resources
Published 14 April 2021 Science ClosedTags: policy, review
Global ocean governance and ocean acidification
Published 7 April 2021 Science ClosedTags: biological response, education, policy
Among many other impacts, the rising levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2), primarily induced by increased rates of fossil fuel combustion, are changing the ocean’s chemistry (Guidetti and Danavaro 2018). The resulting increased uptake of more CO2 by the ocean is making the ocean more acidic leading to deleterious harm to marine ecosystems. This ocean acidification problem needs to be seen as an increased pressure on marine living resources, which are already under intense physicochemical and biological stress due to increased ocean warming (IPCC 2013), changes in their ecosystems (Milazzo et al. 2019), and the introduction of alien, competing species (Essl et al. 2020). For example, one of the well-known effects of ocean acidification is the lowering of calcium carbonate saturation states, which negatively impacts shell-forming marine organisms that range widely from plankton to benthic molluscs, echinoderms, and corals. The potential for marine organisms to adapt to…
Continue reading ‘Global ocean governance and ocean acidification’Climate change impacts on corals in the UK overseas territories of BIOT and the Pitcairn Islands
Published 2 April 2021 Newsletters and reports ClosedTags: corals, policy, review, South Pacific
BIOT
The British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT) consists of five atolls of low-lying islands, including the largest atoll in the world, Great Chagos Bank, and a number of submerged atolls and banks. Diego Garcia is the only inhabited island. The BIOT Marine Protected Area (MPA) was designatedin 2010. It covers the entire maritime zone and coastal waters, an approximate area of 640,000 km2. The marine environment is rich and diverse, attracting sea birds, sharks, cetaceans and sea turtles and with extensive seagrass and coral reef habitats. It includes the endangered Chagos brain coral (Ctenella chagius), an endemic massive coral unique to BIOT. BIOT reefs have suffered extensive bleaching and mortality, and they remain vulnerable to current and future climate change and other pressures, including:
Bleaching
The heavy mortality has been caused by recurrent marine heatwaves since the 1970s. Reefs have not yet recovered from the most severe bleaching in 2016 and 2017, with increasingly severe events expected. Deeper fore-reefs may act as refuges, but those colonies are likely to be more sensitive to temperature change. Limiting other pressures will not guarantee resilience to future bleaching.
Ocean acidification
There has been a low impact of ocean acidification on coral reefs so far, but when combined with future bleaching therisk of decalcification and erosion will increase. Under high emissions scenarios, BIOT is projected to become less suitable for corals by the end of the century.
The focus of climate change research has been with the anthropogenic production of carbon dioxide and the impact of
increasing concentrations of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere on; the climate, marine biological productivity and
biodiversity. Climate change is an equation, what goes into the atmosphere must be removed. Over the last 70 years since the chemical revolution, starting in the 1950’s, we have been destroying natural ecosystems with toxic-for-ever chemicals and plastic. The oceans represent our greatest carbon bank with a potential to sequester most of the carbon generated from the burning of fossil fuels, but productivity and biodiversity in the oceans are declining, and we could be faced with a trophic cascade collapse of the entire marine ecosystem. All life of earth depends upon a healthy ocean ecosystem, and we cannot solve climate change without protecting the oceans. This report details the sequence of events that are likely to occur and the actions that need to happen to prevent the collapse of the marine ecosystem and to avoid the worst of climate change.
Aiding ocean development planning with SDG relationships in small island developing states
Published 26 March 2021 Science ClosedTags: fisheries, North Atlantic, policy, review, socio-economy
Promoting the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) must contend with the often siloed nature of governance institutions, making the identification of cooperative institutional networks that promote SDG targets a priority. We develop and apply a method that combines SDG interaction analysis, which helps determine prerequisites for SDG attainment, with the transition management framework, which helps align policy goals with institutional designs. Using Aruba as a case study, we show that prioritizing increased economic benefits from sustainable marine development, including those of tourism, provides the greatest amount of direct co-benefits to other SDGs. When considering indirect co-benefits, reducing marine pollution emerged as a key supporting target to achieve SDGs. The results also show that, as in many other small island states, sustainable ocean development in Aruba depends on international partnerships to address global issues—including climate change mitigation—over which it has little control. Using SDG relationships as a guide for institutional cooperation, we find that the institutions with the most potential to coordinate action for sustainable ocean development are those that address economic, social and international policy, rather than institutions specifically focused on environmental policy. Our results provide key methodologies and insights for sustainable marine development that require coordinated actions across institutions.
Continue reading ‘Aiding ocean development planning with SDG relationships in small island developing states’Climate change and its impact on the ocean
Published 9 March 2021 Science ClosedTags: policy, review
Increased human activities—in particular energy generation and land use—have led to atmospheric pollution by the significant emission of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane. The associated climate change is also affecting the ocean while, at the same time, the ocean plays a fundamental role in mitigating climate change by serving as a major heat and carbon sink. We highlight some of the most salient aspects of climate change impacting the ocean as articulated in the Special Report on the Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released in 2019. It shows that the ocean is warming, the global sea level is rising, ocean heatwaves are more frequent, the ocean is becoming more acidic, marine ecology is shifting, levels of dissolved oxygen are reducing and the melting of ocean-terminating glaciers and ice sheets around Greenland and Antarctica is rapidly increasing. From the perspective of meeting the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, in particular SDG 14, there are strong synergies between promoting climate mitigation and adaptation strategies, which are enshrined in SDG 13 and outlined in more detail by the Paris Agreement. Scientific research and solution-oriented knowledge generation require the growth and transformation of the science system. Specifically, they will require more freely shared ocean data, new and more effective ways of analyzing observational data fused with ocean and climate models, and enhanced timely assessment, predictions and scenario development of future ocean conditions. At the same time, knowledge from natural and social sciences, as well as informal knowledge, must be considered. Ocean science must be in a position to support decision makers by providing knowledge and frameworks to weigh the ecological, environmental and human impacts with an expected increase in use of the ocean for different sustainable development pathways. In recognition of this challenge, the United Nations declared 2021–2030 as the Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development in order to advance “the science that we need for the ocean we want”. The ocean decade seeks to catalyze a change towards more international, shared and solution-oriented ocean science.
Continue reading ‘Climate change and its impact on the ocean’Removing carbon dioxide through ocean alkalinity enhancement and seaweed cultivation: legal challenges and opportunities
Published 1 March 2021 Science ClosedTags: mitigation, policy
Scientists increasingly agree that carbon dioxide removal will be needed, alongside deep emissions cuts, to stave off the worst impacts of climate change. A wide variety of technologies and strategies have been proposed to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. To date, most research has focused on terrestrial-based approaches, but they often have large land requirements, and may present other risks and challenges. As such, there is growing interest in using the oceans, which have already absorbed more than a quarter of anthropogenic carbon dioxide emissions, and could become an even larger carbon sink in the future.
This paper explores two ocean-based carbon dioxide removal strategies—ocean alkalinity enhancement and seaweed cultivation. Ocean alkalinity enhancement involves adding alkalinity to ocean waters, either by discharging alkaline rocks or through an electrochemical process, which increases ocean pH levels and thereby enables greater uptake of carbon dioxide, as well as reducing the adverse impacts of ocean acidification. Seaweed cultivation involves the growing of kelp and other macroalgae to store carbon in biomass, which can then either be used to replace more greenhouse gas-intensive products or sequestered.
Continue reading ‘Removing carbon dioxide through ocean alkalinity enhancement and seaweed cultivation: legal challenges and opportunities’Report on the ocean acidification crisis in Massachusetts
Published 10 February 2021 Newsletters and reports ClosedTags: policy
Since the industrial revolution, the world’s oceans have become increasingly acidic. The main drivers of ocean acidification in Massachusetts are (1) global increases in atmospheric carbon dioxide resulting from anthropogenic emissions, and (2) local nutrient pollution leading to the eutrophication of coastal waters.
Many marine species that evolved under less acidic conditions are threatened by ocean acidification, including some that are critical to the Massachusetts economy. Species that are both economically important and vulnerable to acidification include mollusks such as the sea scallop and eastern oyster.
Massachusetts will be disproportionately affected by ocean acidification due to the relative importance of its coastal economies and environments.
Continue reading ‘Report on the ocean acidification crisis in Massachusetts’Southern ocean acidification and the Antarctic treaty system
Published 9 February 2021 Science ClosedTags: education, policy, review
This chapter explores how states party to Antarctic Treaty System instruments have addressed ocean acidification in the Southern Ocean. While there are no obligations explicitly applicable to ocean acidification, states should address the threat as part of their obligations to comprehensively protect Antarctica and its dependent and associated ecosystems, and to apply an ecosystem approach to managing Southern Ocean fisheries. The Chapter provides a critical overview of ATS initiatives to date to develop a strategic policy approach to climate change, noting the significant resistance from states to developing substantive obligations within the ATS in respect of activities taking place outside of the Antarctic Treaty area. It concludes by arguing that Article 2 of the 1991 Environmental Protocol can be interpreted to impose a due diligence obligations on parties to take action to address the causes of ocean acidification in respect of activities outside of the Antarctic Treaty area.
Continue reading ‘Southern ocean acidification and the Antarctic treaty system’Ocean and coastal indicators: understanding and coping with climate change at the land-sea interface
Published 5 January 2021 Science ClosedTags: policy, review, socio-economy
The U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) encompasses approximately 3.4 million square nautical miles of ocean and a coastline of over 12,300 miles. Along with the Great Lakes, this vast area generates ~US 370 billion of U.S. gross domestic product, 617 billion in sales and 2.6 million jobs each year. These ocean and coastal ecosystems also provide many important non-market services including subsistence food provisioning, health benefits, shoreline protection, climate regulation, conservation of marine biodiversity, and preservation of cultural heritage. As climatic changes occur, these benefits or ecosystem services may be significantly reduced or in some cases enhanced. These services are also under an array of pressures including over-exploitation of natural resources, pollution, and land use changes that occur simultaneously in synergistic, multiplicative, or antagonistic ways. This results in direct and indirect impacts that are often unpredictable across spatial and temporal scales. Here, we discuss a set of indicators designed in close collaboration with the U.S. National Climate Indicators System. Tracking the impacts via indicators will be essential to ensure long-term health of the marine environment and sustain the benefits to stakeholders who depend on marine ecosystem services.
Continue reading ‘Ocean and coastal indicators: understanding and coping with climate change at the land-sea interface’Establishing ocean acidification monitoring system for tropical waters of Indonesia facing regional climate variability
Published 4 January 2021 Science ClosedTags: biogeochemistry, methods, policy, review
Emission of greenhouse gasses, including high CO2 and other materials, initiating global warming and climate change. Atmospheric CO2 that affect the carbonate system of seawater cause ocean acidification. Indonesian sea with a unique geolocation has important role in this emerging phenomenon. Ocean acidification (OA) not only affect marine organism as a direct effect but also economic and ecological for the human being. Considering the high impact of OA and following the global responsibility on Sustainable Development Goals, it is necessary to conduct systematic research and monitoring on OA in Indonesia. In this review, we are informing the urgency of the OA monitoring system and suggest the carbonate system monitoring as well as carbon biogeochemistry studies for OA. We also introduce an initiative of biogeochemical monitoring for OA at Lombok island with the established protocols. Improvement of many aspects including analysis instrumentations, analysis method, sample treatment, and sampling frequency will be a new insight in conducting further research and monitoring of OA.
Continue reading ‘Establishing ocean acidification monitoring system for tropical waters of Indonesia facing regional climate variability’Chapter: ecological modeling and conservation on the coasts of Mexico
Published 28 December 2020 Science ClosedTags: biological response, corals, North Atlantic, policy, review
Mexico harbors several types of coastal ecosystems both in the Atlantic (Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean) and in the Pacific (tropical and subtropical) on which the regional and national socio-economic development depends. They have been studied through several modeling approaches for management, conservation, and necessary ecological studies. In this chapter, we review and synthesize the most recent and relevant studies conducted, with particular emphasis on coral reefs. In the Caribbean, coral reefs are likely the most rapidly changing ecosystems with a net decline in the cover of reef-building corals accompanied by rapid increases of fleshy macroalgae over the last decades. Remaining coral communities are changing toward weedy coral species that are unlikely to support reef growth and thus provide important services to other species and humans. Since 2015 the Mexican Caribbean coast experienced a massive influx of drifting Sargassum spp. that accumulated on the shores, resulting in a build-up of decaying beach-cast material and near-shore murky brown waters (Sargassum-brown-tides), drastically modifying near-shore waters conditions by reducing light, oxygen (hypoxia or anoxia), and pH. The Gulf of Mexico’s coastal ecosystems have also been under significant threats because of human activities, such as gas and oil extraction, pollution, and fishing. Despite numerous studies conducted in the Pacific, biodiversity knowledge is still incomplete, highly biased toward specific habitats, and often narrow in taxonomic and spatial scope. Concurrently, ecological processes that drive biodiversity have been scarcely disentangled. In spite of sub-optimal conditions for coral calcification (lower alkalinity, upwelling, ENSO, high nutrients concentration) some coral reefs thrive in the Pacific. Calcification rate is disrupted with ENSO events (20–50% drop), but it is not correlated to historical changes in sea surface temperature and it might decrease between 15 and 22% due to ocean acidification.
Continue reading ‘Chapter: ecological modeling and conservation on the coasts of Mexico’Benefits and gaps in area-based management tools for the ocean Sustainable Development Goal
Published 23 December 2020 Science ClosedTags: mitigation, policy, review
Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 14 provides a vision for the world’s oceans; however, the management interventions that are needed to achieve SDG 14 remain less clear. We assessed the potential contributions of seven key area-based management tools (such as fisheries closures) to SDG 14 targets. We conducted a rapid systematic review of 177 studies and an expert opinion survey to identify evidence of the ecological, social and economic outcomes from each type of tool. We used these data to assess the level of confidence in the outcomes delivered by each tool and qualitatively scored how each tool contributes to each target. We demonstrate that a combination of tools with diverse objectives and management approaches will be necessary to achieve all of the SDG 14 targets. We highlight that some tools, including fully and partially protected areas and locally managed marine areas, may make stronger contributions to SDG 14 compared with other tools. We identified gaps in the suitability of these tools to some targets, particularly targets related to pollution and acidification, as well as evidence gaps for social and economic outcomes. Our findings provide operational guidance to support progress toward SDG 14.
Continue reading ‘Benefits and gaps in area-based management tools for the ocean Sustainable Development Goal’Chapter 2: The impact of climate change on oceans: physical, chemical and biological responses
Published 18 December 2020 Science ClosedTags: fisheries, policy, review, socio-economy
The rising concentrations of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases have caused observed physical, chemical and biological changes in the oceans, with further changes projected over coming decades. The impact of climate change on the oceans are profound, with rapid warming in ocean hotspots combined with extreme events such as marine heatwaves changing the distribution and abundance of a wide range of marine species. Further, ocean acidification, sea level rise, and deoxygenation may have important consequences for the marine ecosystems and the ecosystem services derived from the ocean. These observed and future ocean changes are irreversible on the timescale of many centuries. As a result, management of marine resources, for both extractive (for example, fishing) and non-extractive (for example, marine tourism) will need to account for the effects of climate change. For example, changes in abundance of marine species will impact harvesting levels and ecosystem structure, while changes in species’ distribution will challenge place-based management and agreements between nations. Adaptation to some of these changes will be possible; however, without substantial reduction in greenhouse gas emissions the oceans will change and not provide the same support for human activities as currently enjoyed. The changing nature of the ocean, and the impact it may have on ecosystems and communities, represents a huge challenge to future community interactions at local, national and international scales. It also raises the possibility of active intervention in the climate system to minimize the impacts of climate change which will introduce a complex set of issues to be considered before implementing any intervention.
Continue reading ‘Chapter 2: The impact of climate change on oceans: physical, chemical and biological responses’Chapter 18: Responding to ocean acidification beyond climate governance
Published 16 December 2020 Science ClosedTags: policy, review, socio-economy
Ocean acidification (OA) has significant impacts on marine species and ecosystems. Responses to acidification to date have been piecemeal and uncoordinated, but there is a growing focus on possible strategies to ameliorate the environmental, social and economic impacts of ocean acidification. Rather than asking how the ‘issue’ of acidification should be governed, this chapter argues that a ‘solutions-based’ approach that focuses on response strategies to ocean acidification provides an important foundation for governance of the problem. These include reducing non-climate sources of OA, improving ecosystem resilience by reducing other stressors, alteration of ocean chemistry, and options for assisting dependent communities, sectors and industries to adapt to inevitable changes. The diversity of response options and relevant regulatory arrangements requires that governance be similarly diverse across sectors, scale, participants and mechanisms. Both international and domestic environmental laws will have a role to play in managing response strategies. This approach does not require regimes to be tightly integrated or interdependent. Instead, progress can be made in some areas more easily than others, and this ‘mosaic’ or ‘patchwork’ approach enables action to be undertaken wherever possible. A solutions-oriented approach will also have the advantage of moving on more established legal realms, potentially depoliticizing responses to what could be seen as a ‘climate change’ problem.
Continue reading ‘Chapter 18: Responding to ocean acidification beyond climate governance’Ocean acidification refers to the lowering of ocean pH as a consequence of changes in ocean chemistry arising from increased levels of carbon dioxide (CO2) being drawn down into the oceans from the atmosphere and is a problem concurrent with, rather than a consequence of, climate change. Although we now have a good understanding of the processes of ocean acidification, we know far less about the potential impact of a change in ocean pH on species and ecosystems.
…
Continue reading ‘Chapter 5: ocean acidification’Ocean acidification and multilateral environmental agreements
Published 31 July 2020 Science ClosedTags: policy
Ocean acidification is caused by increased absorption of carbon dioxide (CO2). Since the beginning of the industrial age there has been an increase of around 30 per cent in the acidity of ocean surface waters. Given that the cause is limited to CO2 emissions, there are relatively few multilateral environmental agreements (MEAs) that are relevant to the control of ocean acidification. Some, such as the Desertification Convention, are relevant in that the land-use management practices promoted under the Convention may help improve both the ability of certain areas to act as sinks and to prevent the release of CO2 as a result of poor land management. Others are more directly relevant. The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) addresses marine pollution from land-based sources (Article 207) and through the atmosphere (Article 212). The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the regime built upon it addresses emissions of greenhouse gases (GHGs), including CO2. Others, such as the Convention on Biological Diversity, (CBD) are relevant in that they address the impact of ocean acidification on marine species.
In this chapter we focus on three key MEAs—UNCLOS, the UNFCCC regime and the CBD—and the relationship between them. As we demonstrate, the UNFCCC and UNCLOS are, or at least should be, inextricably linked in combating ocean acidification. The CBD is focussed on impacts on marine species and has been proactive in addressing ocean acidification and bringing the need for action to the attention of the UNFCCC. The formal links between the three regimes are not, however, as strong as they ought to be to tackle ocean acidification, and so we assess the suitability of potential mechanisms to strengthen these links.
Continue reading ‘Ocean acidification and multilateral environmental agreements’
Enhancing synergies between action on ocean acidification and the post‐2020 global biodiversity framework
Published 29 July 2020 Science ClosedTags: policy
Ocean acidification is a substantial emergent threat to marine biodiversity and the goods and services it provides. While efforts to address ocean acidification have been taken under the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), a far greater potential to do so exists by finding synergies between biodiversity conservation efforts and ocean acidification action. The ongoing process to develop a post‐2020 global biodiversity framework offers an opportunity to ensure that opportunities for addressing ocean acidification are capitalised upon and not overlooked. In this paper, I argue that a two‐pronged approach is needed to achieve this. First, via a technical integration of ocean acidification across the targets to be included in the post‐2020 framework, and second, through a reframing of the issue as a ‘biodiversity problem’, so as to highlight the synergies between existing biodiversity work and action needed to address ocean acidification. Given this framework is intended to establish the global biodiversity agenda for the coming decades, integration of ocean acidification will set a precedent for the other biodiversity‐related conventions and encourage greater uptake of the issue across the wider international community. This paper is of direct relevance to those participating in the negotiations, both from a Party perspective and those advocating for a strong outcome to protect marine biodiversity and marine socio‐ecological systems. This paper is also of relevance to those working beyond the CBD within the other biodiversity‐related conventions where efforts to address ocean acidification are sorely lacking.
The impacts of ocean acidification on marine ecosystems and reliant human communities
Published 30 June 2020 Science ClosedTags: biological response, BRcommunity, policy, review
Rising atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) levels, from fossil fuel combustion and deforestation, along with agriculture and land-use practices are causing wholesale increases in seawater CO2 and inorganic carbon levels; reductions in pH; and alterations in acid-base chemistry of estuarine, coastal, and surface open-ocean waters. On the basis of laboratory experiments and field studies of naturally elevated CO2 marine environments, widespread biological impacts of human-driven ocean acidification have been posited, ranging from changes in organism physiology and population dynamics to altered communities and ecosystems. Acidification, in conjunction with other climate change–related environmental stresses, particularly under future climate change and further elevated atmospheric CO2 levels, potentially puts at risk many of the valuable ecosystem services that the ocean provides to society, such as fisheries, aquaculture, and shoreline protection. This review emphasizes both current scientific understanding and knowledge gaps, highlighting directions for future research and recognizing the information needs of policymakers and stakeholders.
