Posts Tagged ‘biodiversity’
A hundred nations just signed a landmark biodiversity declaration—what does that mean for the climate?
The world has been holding its breath for some time, waiting for the UN Convention on Biological Diversity—postponed for over a year due to the global pandemic—to resume. Just this week, part one of the 15th Conference of Parties to the 1992 UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD COP15), was held in Kunming, China. The…
Read MoreDeep Sea Takes CENTER STAGE in Ever Worsening Climate and Biodiversity Crises
Featured Image: Crossota millsae. Image courtesy of the NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration and Research, 2019 Southeastern U.S. Deep-sea Exploration. The future of the deep sea hangs in the balance As communities around the world are reeling from the impacts of escalating climate change and the mostly unchecked loss of biodiversity, the destruction of the…
Read MoreA (Marine) Conservation Carol: A Visit from the Ghost of Conservation Past
https://marine-conservation.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/MPAtlas-Past-Blog-.mp3 A Decade (2011 – 2020) of Marine Conservation in Review Declared the UN Decade of Biodiversity, the past ten years brought about a lot of change in the field of marine conservation. At the beginning of the decade, the conservation of our oceans lagged behind the efforts to protect land with only about 2%…
Read MoreInside the Fight to Save Underwater Volcanoes
Featured image: An orange basket star covers a Picasso sponge at Davidson Seamount, California. Image courtesy of NOAA and MBARI. The deep sea harbors the greatest number of species and ecosystems on Earth. Within this vast realm, the dazzling submerged volcanoes called seamounts are among the most diverse places of all. Scientists have long recognized that…
Read MoreBlue Parks Ambassador Spotlight: Meet Tharaka Sriram
This ongoing series of spotlight blogs profiles our Blue Parks Ambassadors: a group of ocean champions across diverse spheres who care deeply about safeguarding life in the sea. Blue Parks Ambassadors build the momentum toward the Blue Parks aim of securing effective protection for 30% of the ocean by 2030 by communicating the value of…
Read MoreClimate, Biodiversity, and Oceans: They’re All Connected
In a world that grows ever warmer and ever more degraded by human activities, scientists and policy makers have watched with unease as the triple crises of climate change, biodiversity loss, and the decline of ocean health have reinforced each other in a downward spiral. Each of the three crises makes the other two worse.…
Read MoreSafeguarding California Seamounts for Generations and Generations to Come
In episode 2 of our California Seamounts Series, viewers experience the rough topography of the seamounts and the incredible marine life that lives there. Like the Sierra Mountains, the seamounts have steep cliffs, valleys, deep gorges, and broad plateaus. These seamounts are havens for life from their base to summit. Scientists believe that seamount…
Read MoreA Glimmer of Hope for Ailing Seas; Scientists publish a timeline for turning the tide on marine ecosystem degradation
By Sebastian Nicholls, Blue Parks Ambassador. “What we do in the next ten years will profoundly impact the next few thousand.” – Sir David Attenborough Since 1956, scientists have provided evidence of mounting anthropogenic climate change.[1] The mounting evidence tells a clear and scientifically certain story: human actions are degrading the planet’s living…
Read MoreThe California Seamount Series!
Featured Picture: A Dumbo octopus (Grimpoteuthis sp.) swimming in the Gulf of Mexico. Photo credit: NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration and Research. Today, we release the first in a series of short videos and multi-media stories about a unique place in U.S. oceans — huge underwater mountains, called seamounts. Rising from the deep, dark seafloor…
Read MoreCalling on Marine Scientists to Support Protecting at least 30% of the Ocean by 2030 (30×30)
By Lance Morgan, President at Marine Conservation Institute There is growing scientific evidence and support for protecting at least 30% of the planet. The 2019 report from the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) highlights the dire future of biodiversity on our planet if we do not act decisively now. Seagrass beds,…
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