Thematic Area

The ocean is a dominant feature of our plant, covering 70 percent of its surface and driving its climate and biosphere. The ocean sustains life on earth and yet is in peril from climate change. However, while much of recent attention is focused on the problems that the ocean faces, the ocean is also a source of potential solutions and innovation. This report explores how the ocean, its coastal regions and economic activities can provide opportunities in the fight against climate change.

The ocean is on the front lines of the battle against climate change. It already has absorbed 93 percent of the heat trapped by human-generated carbon dioxide (CO2 ) emissions. It absorbs 25-30 percent of annual CO2 emissions that would otherwise remain in the atmosphere and increase global warming. It has become a victim of climate change, putting everyone at risk. The ocean is getting warmer and becoming more acidic—a direct result of the extra CO2 being dissolved into it.

Bleaching and disease are decimating coral reefs especially when warming promotes bleaching pathogens, such as Vibrio coralliilyticus. We demonstrate that sterilized washes from three common corals suppress V. coralliilyticus but that this defense is compromised when assays are run at higher temperatures. For a coral within the ecologically critical genus Acropora, inhibition was 75 to 154% greater among colonies from coral-dominated marine protected areas versus adjacent fished areas that were macroalgae-dominated.

Atolls are small, geographically isolated, resource-poor islands scattered over vast expanses of ocean. There is little potential for modern economic or commercial development, and most Pacific Island atoll countries and communities depend almost entirely on their limited biodiversity inheritances for ecological, economic, and cultural survival in a rapidly globalizing world.

The oceans are facing more threats now than at any time in history. Yet a nascent industry is ramping up to exert yet more pressure on marine life: deep sea mining. A handful of governments and companies have been granted licences to explore for deep sea mining in ecologically sensitive waters, and the industry is positioning its development as inevitable, but deep sea mining isn’t happening anywhere in the global oceans – yet.

This volume brings together rich insights of how biological diversity matters to people and their physical, mental and spiritual health and well-being, particularly in the context of a changing climate. Notably, the volume takes a systemic approach to assembling evidence from the social, natural and health sciences, draws on practical expertise from applied case studies, and discusses findings in the frame of ongoing developments in policy and planning.

The ecology of many coral reefs has changed markedly over recent decades in response to various combinations of local and global stressors. These ecological changes have important implications for the abundance of taxa that regulate the production and erosion of skeletal carbonates, and thus for many of the geo‐ecological functions that coral reefs provide, including reef framework production and sediment generation, the maintenance of reef habitat complexity and reef growth potential.

For tropical forest carbon to be commoditized, a consistent, globally verifiable system for reporting and monitoring carbon stocks and emissions must be achieved. We call for a global airborne LiDAR campaign that will measure the 3-D structure of each hectare of forested (and formerly forested) land in the tropics. We believe such a database could be assembled for only 5% of funding already pledged to offset tropical forest carbon emissions. 

Full Paper (Pdf)

The ocean has been experiencing substantial changes in marine physics, chemistry and biology including ocean acidification, rising seawater temperature, ocean deoxygenation and sea level rise. These four, often interacting factors, are expected to increase over the coming decades depending on the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. It is imperative that international decision-makers and stakeholders understand the enormous role the ocean plays in sustaining life on Earth, and the consequences of a high CO2 world for the ocean and society.

Demonstrating the remarkable power of collaboration and big thinking that Palau so often exhibits, in 2016 a diverse partnership produced the nation’s 1st National Environment Symposium. The event brought together conservation groups, national leaders, business owners, and community members for intimate discussion and respectful debate on the successes, challenges, and opportunities facing Palau’s environment.