L10- Anthropocene ocean Flashcards
why do we use the sea?
- marine resources and sea travel have been essential to the development of civilisation
- technological advances mean we can now extend our influence further from shore and into deeper waters
- exploitation of remote marine resources is becoming cost-effective as we exhaust land-based alternatives
- as result ocean is new economic frontier, with investment driving growth in existing industries and the emergence of new ones
- scientists and civil society organisations see the ocean as key for achieving climate and broad society goals
- these are considerable hopes and expectations for the ocean to sustain future human needs
how is food a claim on ocean
fishing is extedning further offshore, and into deeper waters, accessing more of ocean
-new products including neutraceutical “ superfoods” are in development
- feasibility of exploiting previousl unfished resources ( such as mesopelagic fish)
what is claim on ocean for materials
food
the OECD projects project increase in global materials use from 89gt to 167gt by 2060
increases as seen across a wide range of materials including many that we source from the ocean
material
major materials sourced from the sea include aggregates (sand and gracel) for building- projected to see largest growth
fuel
additionaly oil and gas remain the largest ocean-based industry, accounting for 1/3 of the entire ocean economy
- major recent discoveries of hydrocarbon deposits have been made offshore
- exploration is shifting into deeper wayer
- gas hydrates ( mainly methane) on the sea floor, huge source of carbon, double that of fossil fuels, are also generating interst
metals
mining the deep sea for high-value metals and minerals is a pressing topic in conservation
- deep sea ecossytem are fragile and home to many endemic species
- but in some areas there are high density of polymetalic sulfides, there contain large quantities of materials such as cobalt, nickel, manganese, lithium and copper vital to “ green” tech
- mining them on land has many negative enivronmental and social consequences
what are corresponding claim for ocean space
all of the claims for food and material have a corresponding claim for ocean space
- other space claims include
- energy infastructure
- communication infrastructure
-shipping
- conservation
result in crowded areas
what is the great acceleration
recent expansion of human activities
- concept of the great acceleration first published 2004 (updated 2015)
- documented rapid upturn in a wide range of indicators of human pressure on the earth system from the second half of the 20th century
- spread of human impacts and economic activities into the oceans mirror these trends
- termed the blue acceleration now
what is economic expansion into seas
blue acceleration includes expansion of claims for food, materials and space further into the worlds ocean
- sharpest acceleration has occurred since the start of the 21st century
- claims include renewable and non-renewable resource extraction, with mobile and stationary activities
- this acceleration increases pressure on marine ecosystems, and pushed the earth system as a whole nearer to its limit
what are blue planetary boundaries
thresholds most pushed by
- novel entities - unsure of effect of marine plastics
- biosphere integrity (genetic diversity)
- biogeochemical flows ( nitrogen and phosphorus
what is carbon sequestration, emissions and albedo of ocean
coastal marine habitats can have extremely high carbon sequestration (salt marshes >50 higher then tropical forests)
degredation of mangroves, seagrasses and coastal mashed driving emissions of similar order to deforestation, despite covering 7x less area
- difference in albedo between boreal forest and grassland is similar to the difference between sea ice ( high) and open ocean (low)
effect of degredation of mangroves, seagrass and sea ice
mangrove degredation - deforestation - reduced evapotranspiration - impact on atmospheric energy and moisture balance
seagrass degredation - turbid shallows, increased emissions impact on atmospheric energy and moisture balance
sea ice melting- open water, reduced albedo - impact on atmospheric energy and moisture balance
effect of biosphere integrity
- biosphere integrity is a core planetary boundary, central to the earth system state
has been broken down into two components -
persistence - evolutionary history
functioning- functional diversity
the biosphere integrity index has been developed as a potential way to measure this at a global sclae
what is operationalising a marine boundary
- BII could feasbily be developed for marine ecosystems but we lack data of control sites
measure of functional diversity are well established in marine ecosystems, using information on biolgical traits
there are also numerous size-based indicators developed for fisheries monitioring
- trait-based approaches could enhance current biosphere integrity measure
what is HANPP
human appropriation of net primary productivity
qualifies how much NPP is appropriated by humans (directly or via our crops and livestock)
it has been proposed as an additional planetary boundary because it quantifies effects on human-induced changes in productivity and harvest on ecological biomass flows
- marine ecosystems are responsible for 50% of global primary productivity, similar proportions of NPP flow into fisheries in shelf seas as is appropriated by humans on land
- ocean are comparable to land as carbon sink
what is future prospects of blue planetary boundaries
if planetary boundaries are to be truly representative of the world, they need to fully represent the “blue” ecosystems that cover most of the planet
- planetary boundaries have been widely adopted, but there are valid criticisms of both the detail and the overall concept
- but the need to inlude oceans is equally pressing for any other system that aims to monitor progress towards sustainability
is there equality and access of opportunity to oceans
what is seabed grabbing
small island developing states are becoming large ocean states- the cook island has claimed an area of extended continental shelf equivalent to 1,700 times its land surface - countries with limited or no coastline lose out
- most winners are countries that include islands and oversea territories
australia secured >2.5m KM2 of additional seabed thanks to the Heard island and the Mcdonal island, both uninhabited
the UKS total EEZ is the fifth largest in the world
what is the role of corporations in ocean grabbing
much commercial activity in the ocean is driven by transnational corporations, revenue is typically concentrated into very few, very large TNCs, the ocean 100 companies generate revenues of US1.1 trillion - 60% of the total revenues generated by ocean industries
the ocean 100 are mainly headquartered in the US , followed by saudi arabia, china ect
51% of recenue is from offshore oil and gas, then marine equipment and construction, then sea food then shipping
what is global stewardship
stewardship of the anthropocene ocean has been proved very difficult
international bodies, and coastal states have struggled to balance conservation and sustainable use
- SDG14 is life below water and is systemically the least prioritised among govs, developing partners, private sector and NGO
-2/3 of the ocean is an area beyond national jurisdiction ABNJ, governance is fragmented and ineffective
oceans final frontier
area beyond national jurisidiction ABNJ can be considered a final frontier - they are distant and vast (40% of planet surface)
UN treaty on biological diversity found in areas beyond national jurisdiction was agreed last year
this is timely, as the blue acceleration is expanding into ABNJ
- will economic and social benefits from ABNJ drive progress towards acheiving SDG, or further global inequities
how should equity be a guiding principle in oceans
activities in the ABNJ are focused only on production- in part due to the financial and human capacity needed to operate there
- a transformational alternative is to fundamentally reconceptualise the ocean as a global commons
- thso could include common scientific endeavours- a deep sea equivalent to the international space station
should ABNJ be set aside for conservation
this would bring benefits -
- increasing ABNJ contributions to climate change mitigation and adaptation
- increasing fisheries catch at national levels
- increasing nutrition and food security in developing countries
- have the oppurtunity to make evidence-based decisions before significant exploitation begins
- recognising the intrinsic value of the ocean and its biodiversity, and upholding their legal rights to exist, flouish and evolve could provide paradigm shift
- respecting the ocean as a right-bearing entity rather than a resource to be exploited would transfrom out relationship with ocean
- right of nature approach may enhance the effectiveness and equitability of ocean governance and normalise a role for the global community as better stewards
