State of the Oceans — Log 109
YOUR WEEKLY BRIEFING FROM PARLEY
This image: Parley. Header image by Michael L. Baird, CC BY 2.0.
OVERFISHING AND POLLUTION
Leaders of 14 countries responsible for 40% of the world’s coastlines have pledged to end overfishing, restore dwindling fish populations and stop the flow of plastic pollution into the oceans in the next ten years. The countries – Australia, Canada, Chile, Fiji, Ghana, Indonesia, Jamaica, Japan, Kenya, Mexico, Namibia, Norway, Palau and Portugal – hope other countries will join the panel to create a global sustainable ocean plan that they said could have a major influence on the climate and health of the planet’s oceans.
The commitment marks the world's largest ocean sustainability initiative to date. More than three billion people rely on the seas every day – but many species are now fished up to and beyond their recovery limits. The initiative also aims to protect 30% of the oceans by 2030, set national plans by 2025 to ensure local sustainability, use technology to improve the monitoring of fishing, eliminate the discarding of “ghost” fishing gear, and other commitments. While good news, it comes in the same week that auditors slammed the EU for so-called 'Marine Protected Areas' that fail to protect ocean – with only 1% of the 3,000 supposedly protected areas in the Mediterranean actually banning fishing.
CLIMATE
Humanity has been waging war on nature, pushing 2020 to likely be the hottest year on record – but hundreds of businesses, investors, cities, countries, and universities now plan to reach net-zero emissions by 2050. The UN Secretary General is now strongly suggesting every organization and government on the planet set similar goals. Reduced activities associated with COVID-19 lockdowns were expected to cut down carbon emissions by 4-7%, but the World Meteorological Organization recently announced that the pandemic has made no measurable impact on CO2 concentrations in the atmosphere. To combat this accelerating problem, a growing number of countries have now set net-zero goals, most recently New Zealand.
FOSSIL FUELS
The peak of natural gas and oil production has come sooner than anyone anticipated. As the pandemic surprised the world, the demand for fossil fuels plummeted, while electric cars and renewable energies continued to grow in popularity. Taken together these forecasts mark an emerging view that this year’s drop in oil demand isn’t just another crash-and-grow event as seen throughout history. COVID-19 has accelerated long-term trends that are transforming where our energy comes from – and some of those changes will be permanent. Even as this peak looms, the Trump administration has decided to push forward with the sale of controversial gas and oil drilling licenses in Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, a move opposed by environmental and Indigenous groups.
MICROPLASTICS
New research focused on five sites in a vast fjord system in remote Chilean Patagonia has found microplastic particles in all 30 samples. The team set out on a five day expedition, traveling through the extensive system of waterways surrounding the Martínez-Baker Channel in Chilean Patagonia, concluding that this issue has become more far-reaching than many would have imagined. The authors studied the distribution of microplastics in different locations and at different depths, which helped them discover the sources of plastic in the fjords. The ocean was found to be the main source of microplastic pollution entering the fjords — a reminder that waste from around the world is carried on currents to reach even the most pristine areas.
WORLD HERITAGE SITES
A new report suggests the outlook for five Australian UNESCO World Heritage Sites including the Great Barrier Reef, the Blue Mountains and the Gondwana Rainforests has deteriorated – with climate change now the number one threat to such important sites. The International Union for Conservation of Nature stated in a report that the Great Barrier Reef has worsened from “significant concern” to “critical” — the most urgent status. The report finds climate change is either a ‘very high’ or ‘high threat’ to 11 out of the 16 natural and mixed sites. Threats including increased frequency and severity of fires, droughts and coral bleaching were often accompanied by other local threats, leading to a poorer outlook overall.
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