Measurements analyzed by an international research team led by ETH Zurich show that the global ocean absorbed significantly less CO₂ than anticipated during the unprecedented marine heat wave in 2023. The world's oceans act as an important sink for carbon dioxide (CO₂). To date, they have absorbed around a quarter of human-induced CO₂ emissions from the atmosphere, thereby stabilizing the global climate system.
Fish and other marine organisms, though deeply affected by human activities, don’t respect human borders. The ranges of many commercially important species in fact straddle the borders of countries’ exclusive economic zones (EEZs) and international waters, known as the high seas. This arrangement, which makes fisheries management difficult, is set to get even more complicated as climate change continues to heat up the ocean, a new study says.
The R4N Guidebook Series provides an in-depth analysis of models across the globe that unlock private sector capital into nature restoration or protection, including nature-based solutions (NbS). Each Guidebook offers detailed insights into the development of these models, the enabling conditions that allowed them to succeed, along with key lessons learned.
This guidance suggests actionable ways fisheries managers can utilize the types of survey and monitoring data generally being collected in priority areas (i.e. areas with distinctive biodiversity attributes or features) to measure biodiversity outcomes and meet requirements of other effective area-based conservation measures (OECMs) Criterion C. While there is no standard for documenting outcomes of areas reported to the Convention on Biological Diversity or World Database on Protected Areas, FAO recommends documenting all reported OECMs with enough information as possible.
Climate change is rapidly transforming ocean conditions. Rising temperatures and shifting currents are disrupting ecosystems and causing marine species to move in new and often unpredictable ways. Coastal communities are affected by changes to coastlines, weather patterns, and access to marine resources, among other impacts. Marine protected areas (MPAs) are already experiencing the effects of climate change and managers must prepare for ongoing and future changes.
A lot of attention has been paid to the decrease in bee populations and other pollinators, but a recent review article makes the case that we should be equally alarmed by the declining numbers of seed-dispersing animals, which are crucial for growing healthy forests.
“Both are important and should be taken into account in restoration and conservation projects,” study co-author Mauro Galetti, director of São Paulo State University’s Center for Research on Biodiversity Dynamics and Climate Change, said in a press release.
Length-weight parameters assist in the estimation of a fish’s biomass based upon assessment of length, providing value to many scientific and management applications. Some fish species have many sets of parameters published, while those less commonly studied may have no available information, making it challenging to decide which values to use. To address this, we present a database of quality-controlled length-weight parameters for 1,308 Pacific coral reef fish species from 87 families.
Global calls for greater ocean protection have sparked renewed interest in very large marine protected areas (VLMPAs, >100,000 km2) to achieve management targets; however, their conservation value is debated.
Today the world faces three interconnected crises: biodiversity loss, climate change, and unsustainable debt, each greatly exacerbating the other. Governments, Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), and Development Finance Institutions (DFIs) have increasingly focused on using commercial debt refinancing to simultaneously take action in support of conservation, build resilience to environmental change, and reduce or reprofile sovereign debt.
This study seeks to shed light on the rates and drivers of tree cover loss in island catchments focusing on a case study from Fiji. Global Forest Watch (GFW) is critically assessed as a framework for quantifying terrestrial tree cover loss and associated forest carbon stocks. The study assesses the role of the drivers of tree cover loss identified by GFW global models including anthropogenic deforestation: shifting agriculture, wildfires, urbanisation and plantation forestry as well as other drivers outside of the globally standardised list.
