• Ocean

WRI Gives Countries a Step-by-Step Guide to Ocean-Based Climate Action

• climate change
• coastal ecosystems
• emissions
• fisheries
• ocean
• renewable energy
• rising temperatures

A new paper released by the World Resources Institute (WRI) in collaboration with seven other environmental organizations outlines the ways that the ocean, often thought of as a victim of climate change, can be utilized to best combat global rising temperatures.

Why This Matters: We’ve written a lot about how the sea level is rising, and the ocean is warming, fueling stronger storm systems, and declines in biodiversity.

• People

ODP Interview with Rod Fujita, Senior Scientist at Environmental Defense Fund

• climate change
• fisheries
• greenhouse gas emissions
• ocean
• science
• warming

Science is back and this week we were fortunate to talk with Rod Fujita, the Lead Senior Scientist in the Ocean Program at the Environmental Defense Fund about new research he is doing on climate change and managing ocean fish stocks in the future.

• Ocean

Building Back Better From Coast To Coast

• #BuildBackBetter
• #EnvironmentalDefenseFund
• #OurOcean
• Build Back Better
• coasts
• fisheries
• ocean
• ocean health

By Eric Schwaab, Senior Vice President, Environmental Defense Fund These are challenging times for our oceans and fisheries. Climate impacts, so evident along our coasts, in our forests, and on our farms, are even more disruptive to our oceans. Fish stocks are shifting at unprecedented rates and in unexpected ways. Fishermen are traveling farther to […]

• Ocean

Protecting 5% More of the Ocean Yields 20% More Fish For Food

• #30x30
• fisheries
• marine protected areas
• marine protection
• ocean conservation

A new study published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academies of Sciences proves that protecting an additional 5% of the world’s ocean area leads to an increase of 20% more fish for fishermen to catch and thus much more food for people to eat.

Why This Matters:  Right now only 2.5% of the ocean is fully protected, but the goal is 30% protected by 2030.

• Ocean

House Dems Introduce Ocean-Based Climate Solutions Act

• 30 by 30
• Congress
• fisheries
• Grijalva
• nature based solutions
• ocean conservation
• offshore drilling
• offshore wind
• seafood

Yesterday at a virtual press conference, House Natural Resources Committee Chair Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) unveiled his Ocean-Based Climate Solutions Act along with co-lead, House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis Chair Kathy Castor. In Grijalva’s own words, the bill aims to provide a roadmap for ocean and coastal climate resilience, and responsibly uses them […]

• Ocean

Mauritius Scrambling to Save Wildlife and Its Tourism Industry After Devastating Oil Spill

• endangered species
• fisheries
• mangroves
• Mauritius
• oil spill
• protected areas
• tourism
• wildlife

On Saturday, the Japanese oil tanker Wakashio that ran aground three weeks ago off the coast of the island of Mauritius broke in half. The Panama-flagged vessel was traveling from China to Brazil with no cargo, but it was carrying more than 4,000 tons of heavy fuel oil and diesel, of which between 800 and 1,200 tons have already spilled. 

Why This Matters:  It is unbelievably challenging to clean up an oil spill of this magnitude — just ask anyone who stood on the beaches in Louisiana mopping up oil after the Deepwater Horizon spill.