Marine biodiversity - Good to know

Life on our planet originated in oceans. These gigantic bodies of water cover 95% of the habitable space on Earth and provides home for a vast diversity of life, from the smallest bacteria to gigantic blue whales.

The health of the oceans must improve if we are to save the rich biodiversity in our oceans. This means protecting our oceans and seas from environmental threats such as climate change, pollution overfishing, and ocean acidification.

The scientists estimate there are up to total number 2.2 million living marine species (excluding microscopic bacterias).

There needs to be better funding for marine research because only science can save the life in our oceans from this variety of different environmental issue. There needs to be the adequate long-term support for marine biodiversity research because science does not only have to discover the changes  brought by these issues but must also find the way on how can marine life adapt to these changes.

The scientists from all over the world need to work together because only global approach can save the biodiversity of life in our oceans. The global politics will also have to change its course and put more emphasis on environmental issues. If only science and politics could see eye to eye.

Fish are among the most threatened species on our planet.

Many environmentalists say that biodiversity loss is even bigger issue than climate change. The challenge of preserving the world's biodiversity is perhaps even greater than tackling and adapting to climate change.

Marine protected areas are one of the best solutions to protect biodiversity in our oceans and seas. These areas can give marine life a chance to thrive without the constant interference from humans.

Every marine species counts. From the smallest to biggest, each and every one of them plays important part in marine food web. The entire life on our planet is interconnected and oceans are no exception.

Fish and various marine species are among the most threatened species on our planet, with one of the main reasons for this situation being an over-exploitation by fishing fleets.

The decline of our planet's marine biodiversity reduces the productivity and sustainability of ecosystems, causing economic loss in billions of dollars. 

Increased CO2 to cause extinction of many marine species

Carbon dioxide (CO2) levels continue to grow, primarily because world is still heavily dependent on fossil fuels. If we fail to reduce further growth in CO2 emissions this will cause further temperature increase and lead to rapid increase in ocean acidity.

 The U.S. scientists from the University of California say that our planet will warm at least 2 degrees Celsius by the middle of this century in the business as usual scenario. This will increase acidity of our oceans by more than 60 percent, leading to likely extinction of many marine species.

The scientists also believe that current protection policies and management practices are inadequate and won't be enough to save many marine species from extinction.

The successful marine management is about to become extremely difficult, if not impossible, and world leaders should be already addressing this issue in hope to at least find solutions that would reduce the total damage to marine ecosystems.

Why are oceans becoming more acidic with the increase of CO2 in the atmosphere? This is because oceans sink giant quantities of C02 (about one quarter of our global carbon emissions), and the more CO2 there is in the atmosphere the more of it will be absorbed by oceans.

Among species most vulnerable to ocean acidification are corals and shellfish. The species with calcium carbonate skeletons and shells such as corals have very small chance to adapt to these changes in acidity and many of them will likely perish from our oceans, resulting in a gigantic damage to entire marine food web because these species play vital role at the bottom of marine food chain.

The only way to stop ocean acidity is to stabilize or reduce CO2 levels in the atmosphere, and quite frankly this can't be done without an international climate deal. Given the current state of global politics, new climate deal is nowhere to be seen.

The world leaders still fail to spot the magnitude of this major environmental issue, and are much more worried about global financial situation than how our planet feels and looks.

Biodiversity in our oceans needs to be preserved because this is one of the things on which our future wellbeing will depend on it.

The importance of marine microbes

The microbes are important for all life on our planet because they form the basis of all food webs on Earth. This especially refers to marine microbes because oceans account for more than 90% of Earth's biosphere.

Marine microbes are tiny microorganisms that can only be seen under a microscope. Our oceans contain countless number of microbes. The scientists say that just one litre of seawater contains up to a billion microbes.

Marine microbes recycle vital elements such as carbon and nitrogen, produce more than half of the entire global oxygen supply and, in doing so, sink a large proportion of man-made carbon dioxide (CO₂), the greenhouse gas that is believed to be the main driving force of ongoing global warming phenomenon.

The scientists are well aware of how important microbes are but their knowledge about microbes is still very limited. The modern science still doesn't know answers to very important questions on how many different types of microbes reside in our oceans and what is the role of each of them.

The science of microbiology is developing rapidly, driven not only by technological and scientific development but also because of different issues such as climate change and over-exploitation of marine resources so hopefully in years to come we'll learn lot more information about microorganisms that live in our oceans and seas.

The governments need to ensure larger funds for more research in this area because marine microbes play key role in sustaining entire life on our planet.

The scientists have just started understanding the important environmental roles that microbes play in our oceans and seas, and they hope that in future the new, more comprehensive studies will give them lot more answers about all the important functions reserved for these tiny organisms.

The health of our oceans becoming huge environmental issue

Our oceans are often ignored when discussing global environmental issues. This is probably because most people look at them as some sort of giants that can survive everything we hit at them. Sadly, the science says otherwise.

Most scientists predict grim outlook for our oceans in years to come. This is because they are not facing just one but entire mix of different environmental issues such as ocean acidification, loss of marine biodiversity, climate change, pollution and overfishing.

Climate change and ocean acidification are said to be the two biggest threats to our oceans. The rate of ocean acidification is constantly on the rise because of the increased climate change impact and the constant increase in man-made carbon emissions.

The International Ocean Acidification Reference User Group says that ocean absorbs roughly 26 percent of total CO2 emissions each year. The main problem is that the total amount of carbon emissions is constantly growing - it has increased by approximately 30 percent since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution in the mid 18th century.

Ocean acidification in business as usual scenario could have a devastating effect on marine biodiversity because it has the potential to wipe out marine species with calcium carbonate skeletons and shells such as corals, many of which play key role at the bottom of sea food chain.

The scientists have also warned us that the increased acidity will significantly reduce the availability of calcium for plankton, resulting in less plankton and therefore less food for many marine species, creating an irreparable damage to entire marine food chain.

The global attention needs to change its focus from economy to environment and realize that environmental issues are becoming more important than economic issues.

The global public must realize how important our oceans are in order to put more pressure on politicians. We need to force politicians to come up with the adequate legislation that would ensure better ocean preservation such as international climate change deal.

The international climate change deal is sadly still in the sphere of fantasy because politicians keep postponing this issue like we have all the time in the world. Time is definitely not on our side in this situation.

Why do oceans need more protection?

Oceans no longer need to be only protected from massive garbage dumping as we have managed to significantly expand the list of critical ocean issues by adding the problems of overfishing and ocean acidification.

Overfishing is already taking heavy toll in many of our seas and oceans but very few countries take this issue seriously. Overfishing can cause big biodiversity loss in our oceans and with less fish in our seas and oceans this will also mean less food for millions of people worldwide that depend on the oceans for their daily livelihoods.

There is only one solution to stop overfishing – the establishment of new marine protected areas where marine life can thrive without being exposed to human interference. Up to now, less than 1.2 % of oceans have been protected, way too little given the current rate of overfishing.

Many marine experts look at ocean acidification as the most critical ocean issue. Our oceans are becoming increasingly acidic with the ever-growing climate change impact and scientists have calculated that under the business as usual scenario our oceans could see a 100% to 150% higher acidity on average, by the end of the century.

Such high acidity of our oceans would cause massive damage to marine life because of its negative effect on calcium carbonate – the material marine plants and animals use to make their shells and skeletons – to dissolve.

Calcium carbonate is not only important for corals but also for much of the ocean’s phytoplankton which plays vital role in marine food chain. The ongoing ocean acidification could have devastating effect on all marine life causing massive decline of marine biodiversity and cause irreparable damage to global fishing industry.

The worst part in the whole story is that the world leaders still do not recognize the importance of these serious environmental issues. In fact, oceans are still nowhere to be found on global political agenda.

Our oceans cover 72% of our planet's surface. Something this big definitely deserves better protection.

Ocean acidification – A huge threat to algae

Due to increased levels of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere our oceans are becoming more and more acidic. Ocean acidification, despite not being mentioned in public as much as climate change and pollution is nonetheless a huge threat for marine environment, and if the acidity in our oceans continues to grow, algae will be among creatures most affected by it.

This is because coccoliths, very small shells of calcium carbonate that encapsulate a number of species of alga, start do dissolve when seawater acidifies.

The scientists learned from their experiments that coccoliths fall completely apart when in water with a pH value that many researchers believe will be found in the world oceans in the year 2100 due to the ever-increasing CO2 levels.

Why are algae important for marine environment? Algae are one of the most important creatures in marine ecosystems because of their important role in the global carbon-oxygen cycle. However, if greenhouse gas emissions continue to rise further in years to come this will affect entire global carbon cycle because many algae species will forever perish from our oceans.

There are many other marine creatures besides algae that are finding it very hard to cope with the increased acidity in our oceans, for instance corals. Many latest studies have proved that ocean acidification is a very serious problem that could have enormous negative consequences if world fails to significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Hopefully, this and similar researches will bring this important environmental issue into public radar because public pressure is really the only thing that could force world leaders to an adequate reaction.

Ocean acidification is happening very fast which leaves very little time for species to adapt. In normal conditions algae and other oceanic calcifying organisms are stable but as soon as pH falls structures made of calcium carbonate become vulnerable to dissolution, which at certain level of low pH leads to full dissolution.

The current environmental condition of our oceans

The current environmental condition of our oceans is anything but good. The biggest threat to our oceans is the ocean acidification. Ocean acidification is direct result of the excessive carbon emissions, and it causes huge problems for corals and some other sea creatures. Ocean acidification could in the end result in total disruption of marine food chain and lead many marine creatures towards the extinction.

In order to stop further ocean acidification world needs to drastically reduce current level of CO2 emissions. Unfortunately Cancun climate talks haven't done much for oceans as world has once again failed to agree on new international climate deal so the acidification will likely further continue.

World needs to protect as much marine areas as possible. According to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity the countries have committed to protect 10% of marine areas by 2012 but this commitment looks unlikely to become reality. For instance, if we take a look at the situation in EU we can see that at this moment less than 1% of marine areas in Europe are protected.

Current conservation efforts are not enough and there are already many marine species that look to be heading for extinction, and in years to come when climate change strengthens its impact it is very likely that many sea creatures will perish from the face of the planet.

This year's situation in The Gulf of Mexico has created tremendous damage to marine life by affecting thousands of marine species and habitats. Sadly, Gulf oil spill is only one of the dangers facing marine ecosystems. Offshore platforms are still operating in many parts of the world, and the environmental disaster of this magnitude could once again occur, even sooner than we expect it would.

Many people still fail to see that global biodiversity depends directly on the amount of species present in the oceans, and biodiversity in our oceans is currently in the state of rapid decline.

Unless we improve the environmental condition of our oceans we will leave tremendous environmental mess to our future generations and they will be the ones that will be paying for our mistakes.

Protecting marine biodiversity is the priority, and this can be done with the establishment of new protected marine areas, as well as increasing marine research because science should play key role in developing management and conservation measures that will ensure the future of our oceans and the resources on which humanity depend.

The consequences of ocean acidification

The new United Nations study yet again warns us about the ocean acidification issue. The report called "Environmental Consequences of Ocean Acidification" says that the chemistry of the world's oceans is changing at a rate not seen for 65 million years, and that this will soon have tremendous negative impact on marine biodiversity. Like we didn't know that already.

Though scientists are trying to warn the public there's really a little use of these reports because world leaders are doing nothing to tackle climate change issue, and I seriously doubt that latest climate change talks in Cancun will change current situation for better.

In the meantime our oceans will become more and more acidic, and this will totally disrupt the functioning of the marine food web. Sea creatures such as coral and shellfish will find it increasingly hard to survive, and these organisms play key role for many marine ecosystems, providing food for billions of different sea creatures.

Corals are among sea creatures most affected with ocean acidification.

Our oceans currently absorb around quarter of our global carbon emissions, but if we continue to increase our emissions in years to come, oceans will find it very hard to continue with this useful ability. If the world continues with current trend by the end of this century ocean acidity should increase by 150 percent, and this is literally the state of total environmental disaster.

This latest UN report also says that there are around three billion people worldwide who rely on fish for key nutrients, and if oceans continue to become more and more acidic there won't be enough fish for all these people. What this means, is that ocean acidification could also become one of the key factors that will cause even more hunger in the world.

Oceans are not only becoming more and more acidic but they are also becoming warmer. The combination of ocean acidification and increased warming could prove fatal for many marine species because this could extremely limit their habitats, and therefore lead this species to the brink of extinction.

The consequences of ocean acidification are therefore a decreased ability of our oceans to sink CO2 from the atmosphere, devastating impact on marine food web and extinction of many marine species, and to top it all even more hunger in the world.

This should be more than enough for world leaders to start working instead of just talking all the time. Or perhaps talk is the only work they are capable of.

What is climate change doing to our oceans?

Oceans are massively important for all life on our planet but rising greenhouse gas emission are doing great damage to them which will likely result in great damage to many marine ecosystems and breaking down the entire food chain. The worst fact is that once these changes occur they will be irreversible meaning that we could be well on the way for yet another great extinction event.

Due to the increased levels of greenhouse gases (most notably carbon dioxide) in the atmosphere our oceans are rapidly warming becoming more acidic in the process because they are absorbing much larger quantities of greenhouse gases. This has led to altered water circulations and creation of many ocean dead zones that look to be constantly expanding.

Oceans currently absorb around 30% of man-made carbon emissions but further strengthening of climate change impact will in years to come likely significantly disrupt this ability of theirs.

For many thousands of years climate on our planet was pretty much stable but in the last 100 years or so man-made greenhouse gas emissions have changed this stability forcing everything on this planet to adapt to these rapid changes. We still do not know how will oceans cope with this need for rapid changes but first signs are not very good (ocean dead zones, ocean acidification, huge damage to marine ecosystems).

Marine scientist John F. Bruno at the University of North Carolina recently said that "we are becoming increasingly certain that the world's marine ecosystems are approaching tipping points and these tipping points are where change accelerates and causes unrelated impacts on other systems".

It is estimated that today more than 3 billion people depend upon the ocean for their primary source of food, and by the year 2050 this number could even reach the 10 billion mark.

It is of vital importance that world responds to these problems and does everything what it takes to protect our oceans. We need our oceans much more than they need us because without the continuation of services they provide it will be very difficult to survive.