Deep Dives
Thought-provoking research providing extensive learning opportunities
Developing a common understanding of a jurisdiction’s plastic waste stream and the solutions available to decision-makers is vital to build consensus across stakeholders and to align on an evidence-based portfolio of priority instruments.
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Nicola Frost, et al., World Resources Institute
Unsustainable development along coastlines is destroying vital marine ecosystems such as coral reefs, seagrass meadows and mangrove forests.
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There is a pressing need to provide food for people within planetary limits—including new approaches that actively restore ecosystem health.
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Mariculture products may offer a climate-friendly, high-protein food source, because they often have lower greenhouse gas (GHG) emission footprints than do the equivalent products farmed on land.
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Ocean thermal energy conversion could power the world’s tropical islands, if it ever gets out of the “innovation valley of death.”
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Illuminated gillnets reduce total discarded fisheries bycatch biomass. This includes decreases in elasmobranch, Humboldt squid, and finfish bycatch.
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The Blue Action Fund is celebrating its five-year anniversary by sharing inspirational stories of the projects and people impacted by our work to support ocean protection and sustainable coastal livelihoods.
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Rachel Ramirez, CNN
That a coral reef so large and so beautiful had yet to be discovered emphasizes how little we still know about the world's oceans, scientists say.
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The toxic pollution resulting from rampant overproduction of virgin plastics and their lifecycles is irreversible, directly undermines our health, drives biodiversity loss, exacerbates climate change, and risks generating large-scale harmful environmental changes.
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Douglas Wallace, Canadian Institute for Climate Choices
The oceans should no longer be ignored in Canada’s efforts to reach net zero.
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Cheng, L. et al., Advances in Atmospheric Sciences
The increased concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere from human activities traps heat within the climate system and increases ocean heat content (OHC).
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For the 50th anniversary of the National Marine Sanctuaries Act, the United States must ensure that sanctuaries are able to fulfill their mandate of protecting the ocean and Great Lakes and preserving their cultural history.
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Turley, C. et al., COP26 Universities Network,
COP26 Universities Network Briefing.
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Gacutan, J. et al., Marine Policy
Ocean Accounting and Marine Spatial Planning are frameworks used in strategic decision making for the Ocean.
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Aquaculture is an important industry for coastal communities in the ecoregion. In the past, industry growth has been governed by profitability concerns; currently, however, environmental concerns are governing aquaculture developments. Competing interests from other human activity sectors and recreational uses in coastal areas is changing the outlook for the industry.
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Williams, B.A. et al., Conservation Biology
Management of the land–sea interface is essential for global conservation and sustainability objectives because coastal regions maintain natural processes that support biodiversity and the livelihood of billions of people.
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Lauretta Burke & Katie Wood, World Resources Institute
The ins and outs of coral reefs can be confusing. Here’s a deep dive into what makes a coral reef, why they’re threatened and how they’re doing now.
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Blue carbon is emerging as a new conservation game-changer and climate mitigation strategy, but practitioners say that investors and policymakers should think twice before they fall for the hype.
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National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
A Research Strategy for Ocean-Based Carbon Dioxide Removal and Sequestration says current levels of CO2 emissions greatly exceed the ability of nature to remove it from the environment, and reducing carbon emissions alone may not be enough to stabilize the climate.
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Murphy, E.J. et al., Frontiers in Marine Science
The challenge is urgent. There is an immediate requirement to go beyond calls for action to deal with aspects of the impacts of climate change and human activities on the ocean.
Read more → (15 minute read)