Climate Week
2021 | Climate
Conference | Climate
Change Conferences | Global
Warming Meetings
The ocean makes up
71% of the planet and provides many services to human communities from
mitigating weather extremes to generating the oxygen we breathe, from producing
the food we eat to storing the excess carbon dioxide we generate. However, the
effects of increasing greenhouse gas emissions threaten coastal and marine
ecosystems through changes in ocean temperature and melting of ice, which in
turn affect ocean currents, weather patterns, and sea level. And, because the
carbon sink capacity of the ocean has been exceeded, we are also seeing the
ocean’s chemistry change because of our carbon emissions. The ocean plays a
fundamental role in mitigating climate change by serving as a major heat and
carbon sink. The ocean also bears the brunt of climate change, as evidenced by
changes in temperature, currents and sea level rise, all of which affect the
health of marine species, nearshore and deep ocean ecosystems. The degradation
of coastal and marine ecosystems threatens the physical, economic and food
security of coastal communities – around 40% of the world population.