Climate change, plastic waste, predatory fishing – our seas are suffering. Protecting them is essential for the balance of climate and nature. The sea is the home of over 250,000 species – from small plankton and huge coral reefs to the blue whale, the largest animal on the planet. And for more than a billion people, it is also the main source of food.
From this Monday (06/09), the international community meets in Nice, France, at the United Nations Conference on the Ocean (UnoC-3) to discuss how to protect our oceans. See below what are the main challenges.
Warmer oceans = less life
Much of underwater life is at risk due to the heating of the planet. The increase in temperatures causes bleaching and death of corals, a phenomenon that already affects 84% of all cliffs. If the oceans warm only 1.5 ° C compared to the pre -industrial period, most of them will die. “From 2 ° C, the destruction would be irreversible,” says Katja Matthes, who manages the German Research Center Geomar in Kiel.
And since the hottest water can absorb less oxygen, this endangers many other living beings.
Recent searches show that the sea warms up to a depth of 2,000 meters. “Consequently, the plankton, the fish and aquatic mammals are without oxygen. We see these” death areas “here in the Baltic Sea in Germany, where life is practically impossible”, explains Matthes.
Marine systems of predatory fishing insufficiency
The marine ecosystem is also threatened by excessive and not regulated fishing. Environmental NGO WWF estimates that the number of species of species of this practice has tripled in the last 50 years. When fishing too much, marine life cannot recover at the necessary level.
This problem is particularly visible in the Mediterranean, where the population of over half is influenced by the problem. Sink, sardines and anchovies will often stop fishing nets.
“This hinders the food chain of larger mammals and, consequently, an entire ecosystem,” says Matthes.
And it is not only the nature that suffers: the lack of fish directly affects those who depend on this food. All over the world, fish are the main source of protein for over a billion people. And 600 million people depend economically on the sea, especially in China, Indonesia and India.
More plastic than fish in the oceans until 2050
The projections underline that the weight of all combined fish will be exceeded by 2050 by the amount of plastic waste in the sea. Every year, the garbage grows between 8 and 10 million tons, according to the estimates of the World Resources Institute. And the decomposition of this material can take up to hundreds of years. This is the problem of microplastics that afflict more and more marine beings.
The ocean temperature influences the climate
The ocean temperature also has effects on climate and air temperatures. The rain stations in South America and Asia, for example, are influenced by global marine currents.
Another example: the Gulf chain transports hot water from the tropics to the north of the Atlantic Ocean. This also influences the usually mild air temperatures and, consequently, the high income of agriculture in Europe.
The increase in seas temperatures can also change the current oceanic system, scientists. There is evidence that the Gulf chain is already slowing down. Without it, Northern Europe would be fresher from 5 to 15 degrees, calculate the Ministry of the Environment of Germany.
The sea is an ally in the fight against climate change
In 2023 and 2024, the temperature of the sea surface reached new records, according to Copernicus’ latest report, the climate service of the European Union. And the more water heats, the more it spreads: this is the main reason for the constant increase in sea level.
The sea warms because it absorbs carbon and other greenhouse gases – almost a third of human emissions. With this, the sea stabilizes the climate. “Without this function of the tank, the temperature in the atmosphere would already be unbearable,” explains Carlos Duarte, researcher of King Abdullah University in Saudi Arabia.
“The ocean is our ally in the fight against climate change, but only as we keep its role,” says Matthes. This is because the increase in temperatures reduces the ability to absorb CO2 by the oceans.
And a sea with more carbon becomes more and more acidic, which leads to the death of shells and coral molluscs. In addition, many living beings have difficulty adapting to these conditions and can be without energy to grow or reproduce.
How are the seas protected today?
To deal with these threats, countries create maritime protection areas. The largest of them is on the Hawaii coast, in the United States.
The protection rules in these areas vary from country to country. Often this means the ban on fishing or construction of offshore wind farms.
Currently, less than 9% of the oceans is protection areas, but only 3% forbid fishing.
“We cannot solve all the problems with marine protection areas. Climate change or plastic do not worry about these areas,” says Duarte.
The goal is to have less plastic in the oceans
To curb the pollution of the seas with plastic waste, the United Nations have tried to seal an agreement for years. The most recent negotiations have come across the resistance of large oil countries – plastic raw materials – such as Saudi Arabia and Russia. The dialogue will resume in August this year in Switzerland.
In addition, the researchers have sought alternative years to conventional plastic. Japanese scientists, for example, claim to have developed a fabric that dissolves in salted water in a few hours. But these proposals do not yet solve the problem of the huge islands of plastic waste in the oceans.
Who decides marine resources?
Almost 40% of the maritime surface is governed by national laws. These areas are located at a distance of about 370 kilometers from each country. After this the high seas will arrive, which belongs to everyone; It is not surprising that it is often called “common inheritance of humanity”.
For a long time, this space has not been regulated. “For this reason, many oceans resources have been looted without anyone being held responsible,” says Duarte.
And only 1% of the high seas is protected because the international community has not been able to achieve consent in other regions other than Antarctica.
A Treaty of High Sea (also known with the acronym BBNJ) aims to remedy these defects. In 2023, after 15 years of negotiations, he was signed by most countries, but is not yet in force; For this, it has yet to be ratified by at least 60 nations, but only 32 have done so so far: many of which are small countries, but also Bangladesh and France. Germany, Brazil and the United States have not ratified.
The international community has also signed an agreement to protect marine biodiversity, setting the goal of protecting 30% of the oceans under protection. This goal has been set at the United Nations Biodiversity Conference in Canada.
It is an ambitious goal, says Duarte. “It will take time until our actions are effective,” he says. However, it is optimistic: “If we agree with this protection, we can leave our children and grandchildren an ocean in 2050 more or less like the one who knew our grandparents”.
Source: Terra
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