• Ocean

Great Barrier Reef Designated “Critical” by New IUCN Report

• Australia
• climate change
• coral
• coral bleaching
• coral reef
• Great Barrier Reef

by Amy Lupica, ODP Contributing Writer Australia’s Great Barrier Reef (GBR) has been upgraded from “significant concern” to “critical” based on a new report from the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) that found increasing impacts associated with climate change. Just over one month ago, a study found that half of the coral in […]

• Ocean

The Seaweed Solution to Methane Emissions from Cows

• carbon
• carbon dioxide
• cows
• methane
• seaweed

Tatiana Schlossberg reports for The Washington Post about the potential of seaweed to dramatically reduce methane emissions from cows.  It turns out that Asparagopsis taxiformis and Asparagopsis armata — two species of crimson submarine grass — can reduce those emissions by 98% when just a small amount is added to their food.  Now several companies are working […]

• Ocean

Saltwater Intrusion Threatens the US and the World’s Coasts

• adaptation
• carbon capture
• climate change
• coastal forests
• salt water
• sea level rise

ABC News reports that there is a creeping underground invasion of our coasts, and it is moving inland much faster than had been previously thought, according to new research funded by the National Science Foundation.  The stealth invader?  Saltwater, which is infiltrating our coastal communities and creating unseen risks well in advance of the surface floods that drown our homes and businesses. 

Why this Matters:  This problem will become more and more common as climate change continues, causing widespread displacement across the world.

• Ocean

U.N. Report Calls for Protection of Seagrasses, “the Forgotten Ecosystem”

• biodiversity
• carbon sink
• seagrasses

by Amy Lupica, ODP Contributing Writer  According to a 2020 U.N. environmental report, seagrass “prairies” play a massive role in the health of the world’s oceans and if nothing is done to stop their decline, the world will face serious consequences.  Seagrasses support rich biodiversity that sustains a whopping 20% of the world’s fisheries, and […]

• Ocean

Trump Administration Approves Navy Training that Could “Take” Endangered Whales

• endangered species
• harass
• harm
• marine mammals
• Navy
• Noise Pollution
• sonar
• Southern Resident killer whales
• take

Last week, the Trump administration approved permits for future military training exercises over the next seven years in the Pacific Ocean that could harm or kill endangered whale populations. 

Why This Matters: The world is facing an extinction crisis. Biodiversity loss is at its highest rates ever across the globe and, without swift action to protect plant and animal life, there will be devastating effects.

• Ocean

Another Notch on the U.K.’s Blue Belt- Tristan da Cunha’s Marine Protection

• #30x30
• Blue Belt Programme
• marine protected areas
• National Geographic
• Pristine Seas

On Friday, the government of Tristan da Cunha, a four-island archipelago in the South Atlantic, announced that it is creating the fourth-largest marine “no-take” reserve in the world. 

Why This Matters:  As National Geographic states, while 8% of the world’s ocean territory is protected at some level, commercial fishing is banned in only 2.6%.