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The Ocean and Climate Change
Herr, Dorothée Galland, Grantly
Herr, Dorothée
Galland, Grantly
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Abstract
"The ocean plays a critical role in our climate system and is significantly impacted by climate change and ocean acidification. People around the globe are already observing key alterations to their environment with profound consequences: sea-level rise, increased intensity of storms, changes in ocean productivity and resource availability, disruption of seasonal weather patterns, loss of sea ice, altered freshwater supply and quality. These changes are happening at an unprecedented rate. Issues of food security and human health will affect local livelihoods as well as global economies. Mitigation alone will not help us avoid the harmful effects of increasing temperatures and appropriate strategies have yet to be implemented at the required scale and pace. Some proposed mitigation actions such as ocean fertilization and carbon capture and storage need to be addressed with extreme caution. Adaptation has become an indispensable part of any climate change strategies. Marine ecosystems provide millions of coastal residents with services such as storm protection and nursery grounds for fisheries. Unfortunately we have largely ignored the role that marine and coastal ecosystems play in livelihoods. Those with little margin to maintain a decent life for themselves often rely directly on provisions from local ecosystems. By maintaining, or restoring, biodiversity and ecosystem services, Ecosystem-based Adaptation (EbA) can help people adapt to the adverse effect of climate change and simultaneously support development objectives and reduce risk disaster. The actions we need now are not only about protecting ecosystems, but about protecting the earth’s life support systems. It is our intention that this publication will help inform the people responsible for policy and management decisions related to climate change, and all stakeholders, of the current state of knowledge of ocean and climate change issues and action opportunities." (p. 7)
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Book
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2009
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9782831712017
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With permission of the license/copyright holder