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Major stakeholders have called for drastic action to save the planet’s oceans ahead of the United Nations Ocean Conference in Lisbon. “Politicians must listen to scientists,” Nuria Baylina of the Lisbon Oceanarium says. “It is urgent to take measures” on activities, such as fishing and emissions, the Portuguese biologist added, saying “drastic action is necessary.”

More than 20 heads of state and government are expected to convene at the Ocean Conference (June 27 – July 1), where delegations from 193 countries will draw up an action plan to protect the seas.

The Lisbon agenda will reinforce commitments of the 2030 agenda for Sustainable Development, which include reducing marine pollution and expanding protected waters to 30%.

So far the international community ...

Climate talks in Bonn headed into their final day with rich nations accused of betraying the developing world. Poorer countries say that a promise they would be compensated for the damage done by richer countries’ emissions would be honoured this year. They believed that new money to pay for the impacts of climate change that they can’t adapt to would be set up.

But in the discussions in Bonn, they say the issue has been side-lined by the US and Europe. 

For many participants, a concept known as loss and damage has become the key issue in the global climate negotiations. 

Developing country participants say climate impacts on their countries are more severe than on the richer nations and they have less financial capacity to cope.

“We are already living with loss and dama...

The relatively pristine coral populations of WA’s inshore Kimberley region are better equipped to survive ocean warming than the World Heritage-listed Ningaloo Marine Park, according to a new Curtin University study.

Despite previous research predicting coral species would move south to cooler waters to protect themselves, the new study — published in Molecular Ecology — has found this may not hold true on the West Coast of Australia.

The new study, which investigated coral population connectivity and adaptive capacity, has found corals growing in different reef systems in north-western Australia are genetically isolated from each other.

The findings were based on the genetic data of a reef-building coral, Acropora digitifera, sampled from five well-known reef systems...

The US envoy on climate change John Kerry has warned that the war in Ukraine must not be used as an excuse to prolong global reliance on coal. Speaking to the BBC, Mr Kerry criticised a number of large countries for not living up to the promises they made at the COP26 climate summit. Climate diplomats meet again today in Bonn amid new, energy security worries.

If countries extend their reliance on coal in response to the war, then “we are cooked,” Mr Kerry said.

The fragile unity shown in Glasgow last November is likely to be tested in Bonn as countries deal with the fallout from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the cost of living crisis.

Mr Kerry told the BBC that despite these drawbacks, “as a world we are still not moving fast enough,” to rein in the emissions of warming gase...

New targets for reducing emissions, cutting back on fossil fuels and ending deforestation were agreed by world leaders at the COP26 summit. Nations are meeting again in Bonn to discuss progress since the Glasgow Climate Pact was signed at COP26. So, are they keeping their promises?

Emissions: Possible fall this year
What was agreed?

In Glasgow, countries agreed to submit more ambitious climate plans, including cuts to emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2).

Why does it matter?

Carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas which causes climate change. Reducing emissions is needed to help keep temperature rises within 1.5C. Above this could cause “climate catastrophe”, according to UN scientists.

What’s been done?

Countries were given a deadline of September to submit new plans – but curre...

Spanish and French fishing vessels were found to have been illegally fishing in the exclusive economic zones of Somalia, India and Mozambique, claims a new report by the Blue Marine Foundation, an NGO dedicated to marine conservation. The EU is the biggest tuna harvester in the Indian Ocean, with France and Spain accounting for most of the catches.

The two operate sizeable distant-water fleets that engage in purse seining, large-scale industrial fishing, which poses threat not only to the target species but also – due to large amounts of bycatch it produces – endangers marine life in general.

The Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZs) were established by the UN in 1982 and are reserved for the exclusive use by individual sovereign nations...

Coral reefs have complex soundscapes – created by fish and other creatures living there – which can be used by scientists to measure coral health. However, traditional acoustic surveys of reefs rely on labor-intensive methods which face significant difficulties in assessing reef health through the use of individual recordings. Now, a research team led by the University of Exeter has trained a computer algorithm using multiple recordings of both healthy and degraded reefs, allowing the machine to learn the difference. When fed new data, this algorithm was able to successfully identify reef health 92 percent of the time.    

“Coral reefs are facing multiple threats including climate change, so monitoring their health and the success of conservation projects is vital,” said stu...

Memories shape who we are – and who we will become. Our past helps us figure out what to do in increasingly stressful or confusing situations, and the more experience we have the better equipped we are to make the next move.

But people and other living things aren’t the only things with memory. Oceans, in a way, remember too. Ocean memory, a relatively new term, has hit the headlines recently as new research out this month in Science has demonstrated how the ocean is “losing its memory.” How that loss, which occurs thanks to human caused climate change, will alter the future is still up in the air.

Here’s what you need to know about the concept, and what its loss could mean for the future of the oceans and the planet. 

What is ocean memory?

While ocean memory might ha...

The United Nations has declared Sunday to be the International Day for Biodiversity to raise awareness of the extinction risk facing animals and plants. Nearly a third of all species are now endangered due to human activities. Later this year governments will meet to come up with a long-term plan to reverse the threat to life on Earth – in all its varieties – at the United Nations Biodiversity Conference in China.

What is biodiversity and why is it important?

Biodiversity is the variety of all life on Earth – animals, plants, fungi and micro-organisms like bacteria.

Animals and plants provide humans with everything needed to survive – including fresh water, food, and medicines. 

• Biodiversity: Why it matters, in five graphics

However, we cannot get these benefits from indivi...

According to a new study from the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), in 2021 our oceans reached their hottest and most acidic levels since we began recording them. The study, which was part a larger report released annually, looked at four main drivers of climate change: greenhouse gas concentrations, sea level rise, ocean temperatures, and ocean acidity. All hit record highs last year.

“Our climate is changing before our eyes,” WMO Secretary General Petteri Taalas said in a statement. “The heat trapped by human-induced greenhouse gases will warm the planet for many generations to come.”

The rapidly rising temperatures and greenhouse gasses are having a catastrophic effect on our oceans...