26. 04. 2023 Saithya Ullas

What we Eat: Is locally sourced food better for the planet?

Is locally sourced food better for the planet? Ocean Generation weighs in. The top half of this image shows lush lettuce with water droplets and the bottom shows a sea turtle swimming in the Ocean among some seagrass.

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Over 10,000 years ago, we planted our first seeds and domesticated animals – marking a major milestone for homo sapiens (humans).

Fast forward to the present and it’s easy to see that we’ve come a long way from founding agricultural practices to the complex globalised food system we’ve built today.

Hands of a farmer picking fruit off of a plant, on a farm. Ocean Generation is sharing how what we eat impacts the health of our planet and Ocean.

Many of us are now able to purchase foods, in and out of season, throughout the year. Food systems tend to be high-yielding and complex: the low cost of the products could be argued to be offset by the hefty environmental cost.

Is eating locally sourced food better for the planet?

We are exploring the public discourse between local and non-local foods, through the lens of carbon emissions.

But first, we need to understand the components of the food system.

What’s the environmental cost of the food on my plate?

The food on our plates often makes its way to us through a complex food system.

What is a food system?

A food system refers to the entire process (aka lifecycle) of producing, processing, distributing and consuming food.

A strawberry on a fork along with the words: The food system accounts for a third of all greenhouse gas emissions. Shared by Ocean Generation.

This system accounts for a third, or 18 GTCO₂eq, of all greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions where:

– Agricultural production (farms and animal feed) is responsible for a whopping 39% of the emissions.

– Changes in land use (deforestation and fluctuations in carbon in soil) is responsible for 32% of the emissions and,

– Other supply chain activities (like processing, transport, retail, packaging, and consumption) are responsible for 29% of the emissions.

Aside from emissions, food systems are also accountable for high water usage and being the primary driver of biodiversity loss.

Evidently, the systems we’ve built need transformative changes that minimise this environmental toll. It also means addressing the undeniable role of the meat and dairy industry in the rise of emissions.

From a consumer perspective, many argue that buying local produce is the best way to minimise our emissions.

Although this is a popular policy recommendation, academia suggests a slightly different picture.

Above and below: Half of the image shows a farm with yellow wheat and the bottom half of the image shows a scene of corals and fish; life in the Ocean. A sting ray is swimming with a remora on its back and some yellow fish.

What does “locally sourced” food mean?

There is no widely accepted definition of ‘local’ food, but it broadly revolves around minimal distances between where the food is produced and where it is consumed.

‘Local’ food can be interpreted in a few ways:

– Within a community, city, village, or county,
– Within a State (like in US, India), or,
– Within a small country (like Jamaica, Estonia, Lebanon)

In the US, according to the 2008 Farm Act, to be classified as ‘local’, foods would have to come from 400 miles or less.

If we apply this to a person shopping in Slovenia, a small European country, they could, in theory, buy produce from all their neighbouring countries and consider that as ‘local’.

So, the different interpretations to ‘local’ food allows room for varying circumstances.

Does the type of transport used for foods matter?

Yes! It is worth noting the emission disparities between different modes of transport.

The most GHG-efficient option for transporting food is via cargo ships. This is followed by rail, cars, vans, and trucks.

Unintuitively, storing foods locally year-round tend to be more GHG intensive than having the same products shipped from another country.

The transport method used to carry your food from farm to fork makes a huge environmental difference.

In general, air freighted foods are the least GHG-efficient. As a consumer, it can be difficult to assess what is air-freighted and what is not.

A useful guide is to assess whether the product has a limited shelf life (for example, mangoes and berries) and if it is from a country quite far away.

Now, let’s dive into a common question encountered in the local vs non-local food debate.

Don’t non-locally sourced foods mean higher travel emissions?

Not necessarily.

Here are eight foods and their supply chain emissions visualised in two ways:

Greenhouse gas emissions across the supply chain for 8 different types of food. [Credit: Our World in Data] — *Figure 1 GHG Emissions across the supply chain [Credit: Our World in Data]*

Greenhouse gas emissions across the supply chain for 8 types of food. [Credit: Our World in Data] — *Figure 2 Relative GHG Emissions across the supply chain [Credit: Our World in Data]*

In figure 1, we are able to see the overall emissions of certain foods, noting that some foods have high emissions (like meat) while some have low or negative emissions (like nuts). Therefore, we can make the biggest impact by swapping out high-emission foods where possible.

Figure 2 allows for a deeper understanding of emissions from each step of the supply chain. Although there are exceptions, travel emissions for most foods are minimal compared to the emissions associated with land use, farming, and animal feed.

If you’d like to learn more about this in the context of other foods, click here to use the graphing tool.

What are the best practices to adopt when sourcing foods?

From an environmental perspective, making decisions on how to source foods can be unclear.

Some of the best practices guided by growing evidence suggests the following:

– In terms of emissions reduction, what you eat matters more than whether it is local or not.

– In general, buy locally grown seasonal foods like vegetables and fruits.

– Buy local especially if you know where you’re buying from, who you’re buying from and how they grow the food. The transparency of supply chains will enable you to consider wider environmental, economic, and social impacts to make well-informed decisions.

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Saithya Ullas

Mangroves: Underrated Climate Change Heroes

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23. 04. 2023 Saithya Ullas

Mangroves: Underrated Climate Change Heroes

Mangrove tree growing out of water. Mangroves are climate change heroes thanks to their ability to sequester 3 - 5 times more carbon than normal forests.

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Everything you need to know about mangrove trees:

Mangroves are the only forests situated at the confluence of land and sea in the world’s subtropics and tropics. They have been variously described as “coastal woodland”, “mangal”, “tidal forest” and “mangrove forest.”

There are roughly 70 species of mangrove trees occupying a total estimated area of 147,000 km² worldwide. This is equivalent to the size of Bangladesh! Roughly 43% of the world’s mangrove forests are situated in just four countries: Indonesia, Australia, Brazil, and Nigeria.

These forests are home to an abundance of life, protecting people from floods whilst storing carbon at an impressive capacity.

Mangrove trees in Indonesia. The mangroves - a coastal ecosystem - are vital climate change heroes. Here, they are near a body of water. Uniquely, mangroves can be found in coastal and fresh water environments.

Biodiversity in mangrove forests

In the right conditions, mangroves form extensive and productive forests.

These forests support animal populations both within the forest and in offshore areas. Densities of crabs are especially likely to be highest on unvegetated mudbanks adjacent to mangroves, feeding on propagules (buds of plants).

Juvenile shrimps are important organisms near mangroves too, and a sought-after food for many communities. These shrimps obtain carbon (food) from plankton and algae living amongst the mangroves.

There are also a few endemic mammal species in mangroves. For example, crab-eating rats in Australia, the leaf monkey in Malaysia, and the proboscis monkey in Borneo.

Here is a diagram further highlighting the importance of mangroves to so many species for different reasons –

What species live in mangrove forests? Animals use mangroves as a nursery, foraging and nesting habitat. Some species like tree crabs, spotted mangrove crabs and crocodiles spend their whole lives in mangrove forests.

Figure 1 Conceptual diagram illustrating the critical habitat that mangroves provide for a variety of animals [Credit: Integration and Application Network, University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science]

Why should we care about mangrove trees?

– Mangrove forests are widely recognised as providing a wide variety of goods and services to people, including protection from floods, provision of a variety of plant and animal products, sediment trapping, and nutrient uptake and transformation.

– Annually, mangroves are responsible for over $60 billion in avoided losses from coastal flooding, protecting more than 15 million people.

– An impressive diversity of plant products is harvested from mangrove trees, including tannins, honey, medicinal products, and thatch.

Mangroves are a blue carbon solution

– Mangroves have gained a lot of attention in recent years over their ability to sequester carbon, storing between 3-5 times more carbon per hectare than terrestrial forests.

– They have carbon-rich soil that’s been built-up for over hundreds or thousands of years.

– 87% of carbon stocks in mangroves are just within the top meter of soil. According to one report, if this were released into the atmosphere, it would be equal to 7.5 years of emissions from the EU or burning 51 billion barrels of oil.

What are the drivers of degradation and loss of mangroves?

Up to 60% of mangrove tree losses are due to direct or indirect human impacts. These drivers are –

– Logging (for timber, charcoal)
– Agriculture (oil palm cultivation)
– Aquaculture (ponds for shrimp and fish farming)
– Pollution (from oil and gas extraction, and nutrient run-off)
– Coastal infrastructure development
– Climate change (sea level rise, hurricanes, drought)

Mangroves Degradation in Timor-Leste shared by Ocean Generation.

Mangrove Restoration and Conservation Efforts

Our knowledge of mangrove area dynamics at local to global scales has increased significantly since 2000 due to advances in remote sensing and data access.

Around 42% of remaining mangroves are now located in protected areas. But protected areas may not always provide strong protection. Many mangroves fall prey to erosion and storms, naturally occurring phenomena, while some don’t stand the test of time due to ineffective management.

The front line of mangrove protection, management and sustainable use involves people—communities, indigenous groups, traditional users, and local governments.

The Global Mangrove Alliance, is an important and ambitious initiative, seeking to halt loss caused by direct human impact, restore at least half of recent mangrove losses, and increase protection from over 40% to 80% by 2030.

How coastal communities have helped mangrove forests thrive

Around the world, there are countless examples of collaborations that have helped coastal communities and mangroves to thrive together.

For example, in Pakistan, mangroves are concentrated mainly in the north along the Arabian Sea coastline where arid climate prevails. Under the Ten Billion Tree Tsunami Project, 43.50 million plants will be planted in one of the world’s largest endeavours to restore mangroves.

This ambitious project will not only provide a natural barrier against erosion, climate disasters but will also restore breeding grounds for finfish and shrimps. It has the potential to improve the livelihoods of fishing and herding communities living in the many coastal villages dotting the country’s northern shores.  

A man leaning into a body of water to plant a mangrove tree. Mangrove trees are incredible trees. They act as climate change heroes because of their incredible ability to sequester carbon.

Mangrove planting has been increasingly considered a Nature-based Solution (NbS)

This enthusiasm, seen through national policy commitments and community-led initiatives, can now be assessed against a Global Standard for NbS, a criteria set by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) to ensure that these projects are credible and well-designed to maximise their full potential.

Mangroves provide many benefits and their ability to store carbon cannot be ignored. It is a useful nature-based solution to help reduce our emissions but it’s not the only one!

What can I do to further mangrove conservation?

Show your support for mangroves in native areas –
Find out if mangroves are native to your surroundings. If they are, vocalise your support for them and educate your community on the importance of mangroves.

If your local mangroves are subject to degradation, rally support for preservation and speak to your local authorities. You can also keep track of mangrove restoration through the Mangrove Restoration Tracker tool.

Be a considerate tourist –
Mangrove tourism exists across 93 countries, with boating being the most popular activity. So next time you travel, appreciate mangroves and the diverse wildlife they host but don’t leave anything behind!

You can also participate in mangrove planting, for example, in the Philippines, through the Planeterra Project.

A bridge leading across water and into a mangrove forest.

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Saithya Ullas

Mangroves: Underrated Climate Change Heroes

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24. 03. 2023 Saithya Ullas

How can I tackle a problem as complex as climate change?

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The Ocean has never been this subjected to the level of intensity of climate change impacts caused by human activities. With every 0.1 degree C of warming, we make it more and more difficult for humans, flora, and fauna to adapt.

A warming Ocean means that marine ecosystems like coral reefs and salt marshes are less able to host marine biodiversity and sustain many benefits for humans. This also disrupts the Ocean’s ability to regulate the global climate system, water, and carbon cycle.

It goes without saying that the climate crisis is now a defining issue of our lifetimes, and we have a slim window of opportunity to reduce our collective impact.

Four images side by side: Rough blue Ocean waves and foam, a factory releasing carbon emissions behind a field of yellow floowers, a single green lead on a crusty dry piece of Earth, a bright pink and healthy coral in the Ocean. Ocean Generation makes climate science simple to understand.

Is there a way out of the climate crisis?

The Ocean stores 20-30% of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from human activities but this is unsustainable, resulting in an acidic, slow circulating, less oxygenated Ocean.

To put it simply, we need to rapidly reduce our emissions to give young people and future generations a chance to secure a sustainable future.

According to the latest IPCC report, we need to cut global GHG emissions by nearly half by 2030. These emissions come from electricity production, food, agriculture, land use, industry, transportation etc. Cutting emissions requires global collaboration and cooperation – from governments to individuals.

The challenge is immense, but the solutions could not be clearer.

A ripple of water. Ocean Generation makes environmental science easy to understand and shares how each individual has a ripple effect on the environment and health of the Ocean.

What do we need to do to limit global warming?

Some of these solutions have already been set in motion: Reducing our reliance on fossil fuels, increasing uptake of clean energies, restoring carbon sinks, and much more. The slow pace of adoption and funding associated with these solutions have been repeatedly questioned, given the world is currently at 1.1C.

The effects of climate change are already being felt in different corners of the world, albeit disproportionately.

In order for us to stay within any warming limit, we need to make the necessary changes needed to sustain humanity as a whole. And as individuals, each and every one of us have carbon footprints attached to our households and lifestyles.

We must address the fact that
we do not emit emissions equally.

Globally, there are huge disparities between those who over-consume and those who consume less due to socioeconomic and geographic factors.

In fact, the top 10% of high-income households contribute 34–45% of consumption-based household GHG emissions and the bottom 50% contribute 13–15%.

These stark differences mean that individuals in the top 50% are the in the best position to reduce their emissions, giving the opportunity to raise living standards for those in the bottom 50%.

When considering our lifestyles, the conclusions are quite similar.

What impact do our lifestyle choices have on carbon emissions?

According to 2022 UNEP report, “the lifestyles of the wealthiest 10% of the world’s population (broadly speaking, most middleclass persons living in industrialised countries), are responsible for almost half of the global emissions, while the lifestyles of the wealthiest 1% are responsible for about twice as many GHG emissions as the poorest 50%”.

Lifestyles are not just about the things we consume, but also addresses the communities we live in, the values we foster and the choices we make.

Individuals that are socio-economically well-off are in an instrumental position for enabling change. One paper suggests that individuals in this category could reduce emissions as role models, citizens, organisational participants, investors, and consumers.

Ultimately, environmental, and societal well-being go hand-in-hand; it is in humanity’s best interests to fairly consume within our means.

What can people to do to lower their carbon emissions?

There are four key areas where individuals can have the most impact: Food, transport, housing, and the things we buy (like appliances, clothes etc).

There is no denying that industry supply chains have a responsibility to reduce environmental impacts and provide sustainable choices. Small, and local businesses also tend to be more transparent, gaining consumer trust. Low-carbon alternatives exist in each of the aforementioned areas, and we can collectively vouch for further changes, whether that’s accessibility or affordability.

At Ocean Generation, we will be covering climate change solutions under each of the above areas through 2023. Namely:

– What we Eat food sources, diets, and food waste
– How we Move modes of mobility
– What we Purchase appliances, fashion
– How we Live energy sources and energy-saving behaviours

Four areas where individuals have agency over their emissions: how we move, how we live, what we purchase and what we eat. Ocean Generation will be covering solutions related to climate change because climate solutions are Ocean solutions. We cannot have a healthy planet without a healthy Ocean.

Climate change solutions are Ocean solutions, and vice versa.

The finite resources on this planet need to be utilised efficiently and distributed equally while minimising our impact with each and every decision we make.

The future of the Ocean is very much in our own hands.

With every 0.1C degree warming avoided, biodiversity and humans are given another chance. Let’s make every choice count!

The future of the Ocean is in our hands. To have a healthy planet, we need a healthy Ocean. Ocean Generation shares climate change solutions and Ocean solutions to safeguard our planet.

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Saithya Ullas

Mangroves: Underrated Climate Change Heroes

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24. 02. 2023 Saithya Ullas

Why protect blue carbon ecosystems?

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The Ocean stores a considerable amount of our carbon:

The Ocean is one of the largest natural carbon sinks on Earth, making it a crucial component of the carbon cycle. This means that the Ocean captures carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

This carbon is stored in surface waters, eventually making its way into the deep Ocean.

But there are other ways in which carbon is stored…

The role of blue carbon

All along our coastlines, we have unique ecosystems that capture and lock carbon away, mostly in the soil, for sometimes thousands of years.

These ecosystems are termed “blue carbon.”

This includes:

– Mangroves
– Seagrass Meadows, and
– Salt Marshes

They can be potent carbon sinks, storing more carbon than forests on land, on a per-area basis, in the case of mangroves. Some of the other benefits include:

– coastal protection (acting as a buffer between the Ocean and land)
– increased biodiversity
– reducing Ocean acidification
– soil stabilisation
– improved water flow and water quality
– storm and flooding surge prevention, and
– increased resilience to cyclones

These ecosystems can be considered a nature-based solution in tackling the rise the carbon emissions.

But they are under threat. In fact, globally, between 20-50% of blue carbon ecosystems have already been converted or degraded.

Drivers of blue carbon loss and degradation

Our coastlines are often competed for – whether its daily Ocean activities or commercial purposes.

This invariably devalues existing blue carbon ecosystems. The main drivers of loss and degradation are:

– salt ponds (for salt extraction)
– agriculture
– excessive use of fertilisers (pollution)
– intensive aquaculture
– coastal infrastructure development

The case for protection and restoration of blue carbon ecosystems

If degraded or lost, blue carbon ecosystems have the potential to release the carbon back into the atmosphere.

This is not the best scenario, given carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere are already reaching levels not experienced in at least 2 million years (!).

Not only is protection and restoration good for the climate, but it also has the potential to create jobs and support economic growth.

Coastal ecosystems have the ability to mitigate around 0.5-2% of current global emissions. However, there is high uncertainty around its potential in the face of future climate scenarios, as well as loss of coastal land due to sea level rise.

Many restoration efforts have failed in the past, mainly due to not addressing the root causes of degradation.

It is now understood that successful restoration efforts require local communities’ involvement at every stage, economic incentives, and robust frameworks for implementing and assessing these ecosystems.

Most importantly, reducing human activities in these areas can aid the recovery of these precious ecosystems.

We need existing solutions to work together to reduce the adverse effects of the climate crisis.

We must protect what we have, restore what we have lost, and adapt to the circumstances we face.

If the Ocean thrives, so do we.

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Saithya Ullas

Mangroves: Underrated Climate Change Heroes

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3. 02. 2023 Saithya Ullas

Seagrasses: More than a Blue Carbon Solution

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Why are seagrass meadows so important?

Seagrasses are among the most widespread coastal ecosystems worldwide and range from the tropics to boreal margins of the Ocean.

They are flowering plants that live in shallow waters that can sometimes be seen from space.

The name seagrass stems from the many species with long and narrow leaves, which grow by rhizome extension and often spread across large “meadows” resembling grassland; many species superficially resemble terrestrial grasses.

These deep-rooted meadows cover over 300,000km², roughly the size of Italy, spanning 159 countries and six continents. They do not exist in Antarctica.

Sometimes referred to as ‘lungs of the sea’, seagrasses play a multi-functional role to both human well-being and marine life, while being a globally significant carbon sink.

Seagrass Meadow in Clack Reef, Australia. Seagrasses are incredible climate change fighters - Ocean Generation is sharing what makes this unsung ecosystem so special.

Seagrasses are a climate change solution

According to UNEP, despite occupying just 0.1% of the Ocean floor, seagrasses store up to 18% of the global Oceanic carbon, which is estimated to be 38,000 billion metric tons.

What’s more:

– They can store twice the amount of carbon per hectare when compared to terrestrial forests.

– The carbon is stored almost entirely in the soils, measuring up to four metres deep.

– They can act as a buffer for Ocean acidification, depending on environmental conditions, which benefits calcifying organisms like corals and shellfish.

But that’s not all!

How seagrasses support marine life

Seagrasses are biologically rich and diverse habitats where species come together for many reasons.

Some organisms – primarily large grazers like manatees, dugongs, green sea turtles and geese – eat the living leaves directly, and seagrass forms a major component of their diets.

For example, an adult dugong eats about 64 to 88 pounds (28 to 40 kg) of seagrass a day, while an adult green sea turtle can eat about 4.5 pounds (2 kg) per day.

Apart from being a food source, seagrass meadows provide protection for burrowing anemones, bivalve molluscs and burrowing urchins that lie buried in the sand beneath.

They also act as crucial nursery grounds for species like the European eel. It is estimated that 17 species of coral reef fish spend their entire juvenile life stage solely on seagrass flats.

Four ways seagrass meadows benefit humans

There are numerous ways in which seagrasses benefit us outside of their climate change mitigation potential. Benefits include:

– Food Security –
They support global fisheries, acting as nursery habitats for commonly consumed species like crustaceans and molluscs.

– Coastal Protection –
Seagrasses have an extensive root system that stabilises the sea bed, similar to terrestrial grasses preventing soil erosion. In this way, they protect coastlines from flooding and storm surges.

– Tourism –
Whether its swimming with green turtles (Akumal, Mexico) or diving with dugongs (Marsa Alam, Egypt), seagrass meadows are a great place to positively interact with the diverse marine life it hosts.

They are also important for historical heritage, from shipwrecks to submerged ancient cities.

– Disease Control –
Seagrasses can control diseases by reducing bacterial pathogens from harming humans, fish, and invertebrates.

Why are seagrasses threatened?

According to one report, since 1990, there is a 7% decline in seagrass cover area globally per year, which is equivalent to a football field of seagrass every 30 minutes.

The main threats to seagrasses are:

– Climate Change (for example, heat stress through increases in temperature)
– Pollution (urban, industrial, and agricultural run-off)
– Coastal Infrastructure Development (incl. dredging)
– Overfishing (incl. bottom trawling), and
– Boating Activities

…but all hope is not lost!

The role of policy is a crucial top-down approach to restore and protect seagrasses at a broader scale.

With the widely accepted Global Biodiversity Framework, 30% of coastal and marine ecosystems need to be protected, including blue carbon ecosystems like seagrasses. Although, at present, mangroves and coral reefs are better protected under MPA’s than seagrasses.

The variety of ecosystem services that seagrasses provide has resulted in increasing knowledge of their value in recent years. However, there are still large knowledge gaps among the general public.

The best way to protect seagrasses is to understand them within local environments and manage threats effectively.

School of fish swimming near a seagrass meadow in the Ocean.

Restoration Spotlight: Seagrasses in the Eastern Shore of Virginia

The Virginia Institute of Marine Science and The Nature Conservancy have been conducting an extensive seagrass meadow restoration for almost 20 years, creating 3,612 hectares of new seagrass beds.

To achieve that, the team of researchers and volunteers had to actively plant more than 70 million seeds of eelgrass on a 200-hectare plot just off the southern end of Virginia’s Eastern Shore.

Within 10 years, the seagrasses covered an area that would naturally take over 100 years to grow. The scientists also noted increased water quality, nitrogen storage and carbon sequestration.

This initiative offers a glimpse into the benefits of resilient seagrass meadows and its importance in addressing climate change.

“Seagrasses can help us solve our biggest environmental challenges.

They purify water, they protect us from storms, they provide food to hundreds of millions of people, they support rich biodiversity, and they efficiently store carbon.

In light of everything seagrasses do for people and nature, protecting and restoring them is vital.”

Ronald Jumeau
Permanent Representative to the United Nations and Ambassador for Climate Change
Republic of Seychelles

What can I do to help protect seagrasses?

Be a considerate tourist –

Exploring tourist-friendly seagrass meadows can be a great way to develop an appreciation for these wonderful plants and all that they hold. But please don’t pluck them or hurt any marine species when visiting.

Become a citizen scientist –

Furthering scientific knowledge is not a one-person effort and so, public participation in citizen science projects are a fantastic way to contribute.

The SeagrassSpotter project has been created by Project Seagrass in association with Cardiff University and Swansea University. Using SeagrassSpotter, you can help locate seagrasses which will be used by scientists for research including the prediction of locations for restoration.

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Saithya Ullas

Mangroves: Underrated Climate Change Heroes

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27. 01. 2023 Storm Birch

Say Ocean – not oceans.

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There is only one Ocean.

At school, we may learn that the Ocean has five separate regions, namely, the Pacific, Atlantic, Indian, Artic and Southern Ocean.

But our Ocean is not separated by borders. It’s connected as one and it works as a whole to help make all life on Earth possible.

Connection with our Ocean

Talking about ‘Our Ocean’ as one Ocean reinforces the notion of its interconnectedness.

We must all understand that: What happens in one part of the Ocean will have an impact on another part.

When 29,000 rubber ducks were washed into the North Pacific Ocean, they began showing up thousands of miles away in Alaska, Washington 10 months later.

This was known as “the quack heard around the world” and proved that a rubber duck (or a plastic bottle or whatever else) if chucked into a river could move across the Ocean and end up on the other side of the world.

29,000 toy rubber ducks washed into the Ocean. 10 months later, they were showing up all around the world. It proved that our Ocean is one, connected system.

A similar story happened, when almost five million pieces of Lego escaped into the Ocean off the coast of Cornwall, spilled from a cargo ship. The tiny, plastic figurines are still being washed up on the beaches of Cornwall 25 years later.

This not only highlights the interconnectedness of our Ocean, but also how our actions impact the entire Ocean.

What is your relationship with our Ocean?

We are all connected to the Ocean through weather, climate, and the very air we breathe. But everyone has their own unique experiences of the magic and beauty of the Ocean.

We swim, sail and bathe by the beach. We eat fish or seaweed in sushi. We use products that are imported from other parts of the world – by boat. We listen to Ocean sounds on Spotify to relax us.

Biologist Wallace J Nichols, the author of Blue Mind, says “We are beginning to learn that our brains are hardwired to react positively to water and that being near it can calm and connect us, increase innovation and insight, and even heal what’s broken.”

But the ways the Ocean provides life-support – like how it supplies the oxygen we breathe and nourishes the crops we eat – remains far less understood.

This is where we come in.
Here at Ocean Generation, we want to rebuild this connection.

A diver in the Ocean, representing our connection with the Ocean. The Ocean supports all life on Earth and Ocean Generation wants to rebuild this human, Ocean connection so we can understand its importance.

Every drop of water is connected.

We don’t usually think of the water that comes out of our taps as the same water in the Ocean. But to quote a little fish…

All drains lead back to the Ocean.
Finding Nemo

The water that we use every day and the waterbodies in our communities connect us to the Ocean. All water eventually flows out to the Ocean.

Our Ocean is weaved into every part of our daily lives – and our actions have extraordinary impacts on it.

#WeAreAllOcean

Want to feel more connected to our blue planet?

Join the Ocean Generation

The Ocean Generation is coming together to restore a healthy relationship between humanity and the Ocean. As the first generation to understand ocean issues, we are also the last generation who can stop them.

We are all the Ocean Generation.

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Storm Birch

Mangroves: Underrated Climate Change Heroes

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27. 01. 2023 Storm Birch

Our Impact: Understanding the 5 Ocean Threats

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The Ocean is a flourishing ecosystem that can maintain itself.

But our actions have been negatively impacting the Ocean for decades, at a rate our Ocean cannot keep up with.

There was a time when we thought the Ocean was endless. So, we treated it that way: Taking what we wanted, when we wanted, in whatever quantity we liked.

It took us far too long to realise the many ways we threaten our Ocean. But now we know better.

Our Ocean is one of our planet’s most valuable ecosystems.

The Ocean provides over 50% of the world’s oxygen, captures 30% of human-made carbon emissions, and mitigates the climate crisis. The bottom line: We need a healthy Ocean for a healthy planet.

What are the 5 key ways human activity impacts the Ocean? Ocean Generation is sharing the human threats our Ocean faces. 5 images side by side represent the threats: a dry landscape for climate change; a plastic bottle in the Ocean for pollution; a dam wall for costal infrastructure; a caught fish for resource extraction; and a cruise ship for daily Ocean use.

How does human activity threaten the Ocean?

Our Impact work explores the 5 key ways human actions negatively impact the Ocean.

Many of the underlying actions causing these Ocean Threats have existed throughout the course of human history – but have become unsustainable more recently because of rapid population growth and the consequent scale of our impact on the marine environment.

What human activity impacts the Ocean the worst?

There are no known, credible, scientific classification of the severity of these Ocean threats. What does that mean – simply? We can’t tell you which of the five threaten the Ocean the worst.

But there’s no doubt that all of these Ocean threats are inter-related and can combine to have vast negative impacts on Ocean health, marine habitats and marine life which, in turn, pose serious threats to human health.

What are the 5 human-made Ocean threats?

1. Climate change: We can’t talk about climate change without the Ocean

It’s widely accepted that human actions are the primary drivers of climate change. The biggest culprit? Burning fossil fuels (for example, coal, oil and gas) to produce energy is the main cause of climate change.

Signs of climate change are all around us – and impossible to ignore. But too few of us understand the important role our Ocean plays in mitigating the climate crisis.

How does the Ocean mitigate climate change?

Our Ocean plays a fundamental role in regulating global temperatures, storing massive amounts of carbon, and capturing heat from the atmosphere.

Although the Ocean drastically mitigates climate change, it’s also impacted by climate change. These changes (like increased Ocean heat), have negative consequences on Ocean health and thus, all of us.

2. Pollution: It’s not just plastic polluting our Ocean.

Plastic is, by far, the most common and impacting pollutant in the Ocean.

80% of plastic in our Ocean comes from the land and most of that is made up of single-use plastic items; products we use once, then throw away. And that’s the biggest problem with plastic: there is no “away.”

This Ocean Generation above and below image shows human impact on the Ocean in the top half of the image with an oil spill in the Ocean and in the bottom half, the flourishing Ocean. An array of fish are swimming among bright blue corals.

3. Coastal Infrastructure Development: Why do we need to protect our coastlines?

2.5 billion people live within 100km from our Ocean.

Coastal regions are densely populated areas with increasing rates of population growth (and who can blame them? Living near the Ocean has numerous benefits.)

But rapid urbanisation of our coastlines has negative impacts on the environment – many of which are linked to climate change.

With higher frequencies of natural weather events (like cyclones and hurricanes), erosion and land loss, and flooding, coastal regions have never been this vulnerable.

4. Resource Extraction: What resources do we extract from the Ocean?

Around 3 billion people rely on the Ocean for their primary source of protein: Seafood.

Seafood is the most notable thing we extract from the Ocean but it’s not the only thing. We also extract minerals, fossil fuels, and plants from the Ocean.

Our Ocean – as incredible as it is – is not limitless.

We must recognise the limits of Ocean resources and control the quantity and frequency at which we extract resources from the Ocean; allowing it time to replenish and regenerate. Otherwise, we will reach a point of no return.

A fisherman, standing knee deep in the Ocean, is holding up a fishing net. It is sunset and only the outline of the fisherman and his hat can be seen against the yellow sky. In this blog, Ocean Generation is sharing the negative impact of resource extraction on the Ocean.

5. Daily Ocean Use: What’s the impact of daily human actions on the Ocean?

Humans work hard and always have something on the go. The Ocean is no different.

All around the world, our Ocean is in use every day. From cargo shipping for trade, passenger traffic for travel to commercial fishing and research – the Ocean is used widely. How we make use of the Ocean is what’s important.

We need to turn to using the Ocean sustainably to protect the awe-inspiring ecosystem that supports all life on Earth.

What can I do to protect our blue planet?

Understanding the 5 main threats our Ocean faces is step one. Step two is doing something about them. Some of these Ocean Threats can feel overwhelming – but they don’t have to be.

Working together is humanity’s superpower. And it remains our best tool for solving the world’s biggest problems, and simultaneously, restoring our Ocean.

Three ways you can take environmental action – with a focus on the Ocean – right now:

Subscribe to our newsletter to receive monthly impact in your inbox; explore our Science Hub; or visit our Instagram page for bite-size environmental education.
Recognise that you don’t have to be perfect.

Ask yourself: What can I do right now to decrease my carbon footprint? What can I do to be a voice for our Ocean and empower others to do the same?
20 actions to reduce and reuse plastic.

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Storm Birch

Mangroves: Underrated Climate Change Heroes

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13. 10. 2022 Saithya Ullas

Our Impact: The cost of daily Ocean use

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This is part of our Four Pillars work that highlights the importance of the Ocean, the human-made threats it faces, and the solutions our Ocean provides.

What is the cost of our daily Ocean activities?

What’s there to love about the Ocean?

Many things come to mind: How vast it is, Ocean biodiversity, being able to swim, dive, snorkel, travel and so much more.

This large body of water helps us stay connected with each other through global trade and passenger routes.

The Ocean also helps us learn about, explore, and enjoy its many offerings through touristic and recreational activities. But these activities can also be harmful to the marine environment if we are not careful.

Recreational boating in the Ocean. In the image, a speedboat cuts across Ocean waves leaving a trail in its wake.

The impacts of tourism on our Ocean

The issue with “sun, sea, sand” tourism on Ocean biodiversity

Touristic Ocean activities are mainly experienced through cruising or coastal tourism.

One of the major impacts on the Ocean comes from coastal infrastructure development dedicated to cultivating tourism hotspots: think airports, hotels, or retail shops.

Effective planning and management are crucial in minimising the impacts on biodiversity. If foregone, the effects are dire: a 15-year unplanned development period at Vlora Bay, Albania resulted in the disappearance of over 50% of seagrass meadows and a huge reduction in macroalgae.

People enjoying a beach and the blue Ocean waves.

Furthermore, studies continue to show that beaches with extensive tourism are less rich in nutrients and biodiversity, when compared to natural shorelines. This is often the case to appease tourists with what an “ideal” beach might look like.

Our love for water-based recreational activities impacts marine life

There is nothing quite like spending some time in the water, whether that may be a pool, a lagoon, a lake, or the mighty Ocean.

Scuba diving and snorkeling are highly popular activities, and the prime locations are areas with coral reefs.

Coral reefs attract large numbers of tourists each year.

Around the world, coral reef tourism is valued at an estimated $36 billion annually.

In terms of visitor numbers, this equates to 70 million tourist trips that would not have happened without the presence of these magnificent reefs.

Coral reef tourism is valued at $36 billion every year. A scuba diver is reaching out to touch a fish in a coral reef.

Studies have shown that diver interactions can be damaging to the reefs.

This mostly comes down to the risk of breaking or touching the fragile reefs. Better training for the divers and overall management techniques are needed to ensure coral reef tourism is sustainable.

Other activities that attract visitors include birdwatching, whale watching and recreational boating.

Whale watching is a significant tourist activity, generating about $2.1billion per annum, globally. Millions of people engage in this activity which may benefit conservation efforts through change in attitudes towards marine life and natural environments. Yet, uncontrolled whale watching efforts can disrupt their natural behaviours.

A whale tail image. The whale's tail is dipping into the Ocean waves.

What are the effects of marine traffic on the Ocean?

Marine traffic mainly comprises of shipping cargoes and passenger movements. This traffic can impact the Ocean through various forms of pollution (air, water, noise, oil spills) as well as biodiversity losses.

Passenger traffic has seen an increased interest in cruises – the number of passengers has increased by about 5% per year, with major hotspots being the Caribbean and Mediterranean.

There is also an increased interest in Antarctic and Arctic tourism. With melting sea ice in the Arctic, new parts of the area open, which is likely to be subjected to more impacts.

New innovations in marine fuels and strict adherence to the codes provided by the International Maritime Organization (IMO) are necessary to limit the environmental impacts caused by marine traffic.

But what if we just limited the traffic?

Here is an insightful case study…

Research Spotlight: What happens when we curb marine traffic?

Chinese white dolphins are not limited to but can be found in the waters near Hong Kong.

Over the last 17 years, their population has decreased by 80% and one of the main culprits is marine traffic. A recent multi-year study found fascinating changes in behaviour of these mammals when left undisturbed.*

Due to COVID-19, cross border passenger ferries between Hong Kong, Macau and China ceased to operate in early 2020.

In the absence of the fast ferries, the dolphins began to actively use the fairways. Researchers at WWF Hong Kong found that dolphins occurred in larger groups and socialised much more.

WWF HK is now working with other stakeholders to maintain the area as a ferry-free zone. A survey was conducted to document public support for this initiative and the results show that rerouting ferries when the maritime border reopens is the preferred option, even though this means increased fares and longer travelling times.

Chinese dolphin in the Ocean. The dolphin is pink in colour.

We need to become responsible Ocean users

It is clear that we can travel and enjoy everything the Ocean has to offer, provided we understand and limit our impacts when indulging in these activities.

As we seek solutions to aid sustainable reforms within shipping and cruise ships, learning and appreciating the Ocean and marine life is a great start to being more careful tourists, internationally or domestically.

We have one Ocean and we need to protect it every day.

*We would like to thank Dr Lindsay Porter, Senior Research Scientist at SEAMAR Hong Kong SAR for providing these invaluable insights.

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Saithya Ullas

Mangroves: Underrated Climate Change Heroes

Monthly: Impact in your inbox.

11. 08. 2022 Saithya Ullas

Our Impact: What resources do we extract from the Ocean?

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This is part of our Four Pillars work that highlights the importance of the Ocean, the human-made threats it faces, and the solutions our Ocean provides.

Humans have been travelling across the Ocean for many millennia, with fishing being an important ancient practice.

Along with capturing food from the sea, we slowly recognised the Ocean as a valuable source for much more.

What are the impacts of extracting seafood from the Ocean?

Fast forward to present day, we now eat almost twice as much seafood, compared to 50 years ago.

Offshore oil extraction has not been kind to marine life, with disruptions in the form of noise pollution, habitat destruction, and oil spills. And the Ocean is being glorified as a new frontier for mineral extraction from the seabed.

We’ve benefitted from a great deal of things we’ve extracted from the Ocean. But do we ever give back and allow the Ocean to replenish?

Do we assess the risks before we extract? Let’s take a closer look into some of the resources we want and how removing them impacts our Ocean.

What resources do we extract from the Ocean? Fossil fuels, animals, minerals and plants are all extracted from the Ocean for human use. Ocean Generation is breaking down what the impact of Oceanic resource extraction is.

How much do humans rely on the Ocean for food?

Animal protein from the Ocean provides around 17% of all animal protein consumed. The food we obtain from the Ocean and other water bodies are inextricably linked to many cultural identities.

From national dishes (Example: Senegal (Ceebu jën)) to fishing traditions (Example: in Finland), many coastal communities around the world uphold seafood as a pillar of cultural identity, livelihoods, food security, tradition and connection to the Ocean.

Global seafood production is on the rise

With global production of seafood quadrupling over the last 50 years, it is no surprise that wild catching has become unsustainable and cannot keep up with global demand.

Enter, aquaculture: A process where seafood is farmed, by corporations and farmers alike. There are many variations of aquaculture, depending on the location and type of organism being cultivated.

Is aquaculture the sustainable solution we’ve been looking for?

This booming method overtook seafood production from conventional fisheries by 12.26 million tonnes in 2015. It is important to note that aquaculture includes aquatic plants like seaweed as well.

Seaweed farmer walking along the shoreline with two big bundles of seaweed. Ocean Generation is sharing the impact of resource extraction on the Ocean.

Aquaculture has been touted for its high yields and added nutritional value, but sustainable production requires:

– careful consideration of the surrounding environment, so as to not burden wild species and damage coastal blue carbon ecosystems,

– sustainable supply of aquafeed, i.e., food for the cultured organisms, and

– adequate disease control among the cultivated populations.

Aquaculture supports the livelihood of over 540 million people (in 2014) with 19% being women.

To ensure a stable income and a stable Ocean, there is a need for better guidelines for operational safety and management to ensure healthy fish stocks.

However, food from the Ocean isn’t the only thing we extract…

What resources do we extract from the Ocean?

Drill baby, drill

From the dawn of time, humans have sparked revolutionary leaps through different forms of energy.
Although fire was a major leap in evolutionary standards, we exceeded our capabilities when we realised we could use ancient organic matter as fuel.

The oil and natural gas we extract powers our homes, our cars, manufactures plastic, and much more. Even their by-products are used, for example, tar to build roads.

But the relentless extraction of fossil fuels comes with a hefty price tag. It’s at the cost of our planet – including our Ocean.

How offshore oil and gas extraction effects the Ocean:

– Exploration: Exploring to identify location and size of reserves disrupts sound, harming marine life, small or big. However, nowadays, evolved techniques have drastically minimised their impact.

– Operational: Processes like drilling disrupt the Ocean floor, pollutes the environment (waste, noise) and also increases biodiversity loss.

– Large release of greenhouse gases, heavily contributing to climate change.

A common image that comes to mind when grasping pollution in this context is this: An animal drenched in oil.

Oil spills are a vicious consequence, not always caused by the process of extraction. In fact, the National Research Council estimates the origin as follows:

– 46% naturally seeping into the Ocean
– 37% discharged from operational processes in sea, and land-based sources
– 12% accidental spills from ships, and
– 3% extraction processes

Although the single largest source of oil pollution is natural, ecosystems have adapted to these natural stresses.

However, that is not the case when we spill oil. To tackle human-induced oil spills, progress has been made to better monitor spills and identify affected areas.

Overall, the reduction in fossil fuel extraction and its use will be beneficial to all life on Earth.

The fossil fuel industry has also provided strong learnings for the budding marine renewables industry (MRE).

How the Ocean supports the medical industry:

Did you know that plants and animals from the Ocean have been used to develop medicines for humans?

The Ocean’s incredible biodiversity has become a new frontier for discovering drugs to alleviate many health conditions.

We take antibiotics for many types of bacterial infections, but in recent years, antibiotics have been overused to the point of ineffectiveness, i.e., it has stopped working when attempting to treat serious conditions.

This resistance has pushed scientists to seek out new solutions. Scientists at NOAA have isolated a chemical compound from microorganisms found on sponges and corals that can be used as a helper drug to make antibiotics effective again, under certain circumstances.

Not all innovations are for medicinal purposes. Food supplements like omega 3, macroalgae (like seaweed) for biofuels and beauty products are all examples of ways in which the Ocean provides for us.

Seafood, minerals and fossil fuels. Is this everything the Ocean has to offer? Not even close! We haven’t even touched on technology, or makeup.

Are we including the health of the Ocean in this conversation? Not nearly enough. Let’s take a final look into something new and potentially disastrous…

New “solution,” same ol’ motives

Innovative solutions can lead to incredible human advancements – but it shouldn’t be at the cost of stripping the Ocean seabed.

Our technological revolution has come with a hefty price tag. The price of:

– mineral mining (conflict minerals, slavery, and generally poor working conditions),
– overconsumption (of electronics), and
– huge swathes of electronic waste.

This has resulted in extractive industries looking for new areas to source minerals, specifically, the Ocean.

Where do most minerals we need reside in the Ocean?

The deep sea.

Deep-sea mining is the process of extracting mineral deposits from the seabed. The Ocean is rich in minerals not only required for electronics like the laptop or phone you are reading this blog on, but also for batteries and scaling low-carbon renewable technologies like wind turbines and solar panels.

However, there is growing concern on whether this is a good idea or if we can extract these minerals safely.

We know scarily little about the environmental consequences of stripping the Ocean seabed, but it is clear that this is likely to cause severe disruptions to marine life, deep-sea ecosystems, and global climate regulation.

This complication is further fuelled by questions on economic viability and social acceptance. Despite approval licenses for some exploratory projects, deep-sea mining must not be commercialised without sufficient understanding of the consequences mentioned above.

What can I do about resource extraction in the Ocean?

We rely on the Ocean for so much more than we’ll ever realise. From our breath to our food to our health, we need the Ocean to thrive and there are ways in which we can help restore it.

– On Seafood:

To combat overfishing, we must generally consume less seafood to sustain fish stocks healthily. It is also wise to use your national food directories to understand what types of creatures are endangered to best avoid eating so that we can reduce the pressure on those populations.

This in combination with the environmental impacts of specific species can be a useful way to mitigate individual impacts. Let’s not forget to support local fishing communities!

– On Minerals:

Planned obsolescence is a conscious strategy for companies to artificially limit the life of a product. There is no better example of observing this than electronics:

Some of us grew up in households with washing machines and blenders that are older than us, just because it still functions! But nowadays, smartphones are replaced every few years, with some behaviour associated with trendsetting, something that we see in fast fashion.

This, among so many other reasons, is why we produce roughly 50 million tonnes of electronic and electrical waste per year. Unfortunately, formal recycling of these products is limited to 20%.

For further understanding the concept of planned obsolescence, watch the below video. As a solution, we must vouch for the Right to Repair the products we buy, rather than rely on the promises of recycling.

Even with that being said, we must push for better recycling of e-waste, as the precious metals we discard are in limited supply. To put this into perspective, there is 100 times more gold in a tonne of e-waste than in a tonne of gold ore.

We cannot allow the Ocean to be a kind of scapegoat and maintain the false persona of endlessness.

There is only one Ocean and we must protect it because our life depends on it.

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Saithya Ullas

Mangroves: Underrated Climate Change Heroes

Monthly: Impact in your inbox.

8. 07. 2022 Saithya Ullas

Our Impact: Why is protecting our coastlines important?

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This is part of our Four Pillars work that highlights the importance of the Ocean, the human-made threats it faces, and the solutions our Ocean provides.

Think of some of the most vibrant cities around the world: Mumbai, Istanbul, Dubai, Copenhagen, Tokyo. What do they all have in common?

Shanghai coastal city at sunset. Ocean Generation is sharing the impact of coastal infrastructure development on the Ocean.

They are coastal cities.

How does living on the coast impact human health?

Coastal regions can positively contribute to human health. Through the food we eat, the quality of air we breathe, and the water we drink, living by the Ocean can have a calming effect.

This is not to mention the wealth of economic and recreational opportunities that come with coastal areas.

With 2.5 billion people within 100km of the coast living in 4% of land area within the same distance, it is no surprise that coastal regions are heavily concentrated. In fact, about 90% of population concentration is in coastal cities with populations of over one million.

So what?

What impact do coastal regions have on our blue planet?

The coastal zone is the most urbanised region in the world, hosting 15 of the 20 megacities (cities with populations of over 10 million people).

This rapid urbanisation of coastal regions has cracks in planetary health that we notice more and more every day.

The impacts of climate change on coastal communities are increasingly evident. With higher frequencies of natural events like cyclones and hurricanes, risk of erosion and land loss, salinisation, flooding and other cascading impacts, coastal regions have never been this vulnerable.

Let’s investigate some ways coastal infrastructure impacts the Ocean and the organisms that call it home.

Impacts of coastal development on the Ocean and Ocean life. Ocean Generation is spotlighting the impact of habitat destruction, construction of dams and marine renewable energy.

Building along our coasts causes habitat destruction.

Human activities are a key driver for habitat destruction.

This can be observed through:

– Coastal and marine land reclamation, the process by which parts of the Ocean are formed into land (by infilling or building dykes, for example)

– Infrastructure development for tourism (for example, resorts and recreational facilities)

– Development of ports, harbours, and their management (including dredging)

Habitat destruction occurs when a natural habitat, like a wetland, can no longer support the species present. The species are often destroyed or displaced.

Thus, habitat destruction is a leading cause of biodiversity loss. With changes in physical and chemical compositions, invasive species tend to thrive in these areas, further driving out native species.

Destruction of China’s Coastline: A quick study

The most significant recent development is coastal and marine land reclamation, especially in China, with 1249.8km² of ‘new’ land developed since the mid 1980’s.

This can have many unintended consequences. In one study, scientists observed 19,793.4 hectares of coastal wetlands changed to inland wetlands enclosed by a seawall and dike, between 1989 and 2013. This cuts off the exchange of sediments and the flow of water between the wetland and the Ocean.

In this case, more than 80% of the natural wetlands had been used to develop urban, industrial, and agricultural land uses. This can be seen as an ecological trade off in favour of human activities.

A coastal wetland shared by Ocean Generation.

Coastal wetlands are resilient natural habitats, important for flood protection, carbon sequestration, habitat for wildlife, etc.

Destroying these natural habitats impact the Ocean, aquatic life, and humans too.

The impact of building dams and reservoirs

A dam is a barrier that holds back water whereas a reservoir is a human-made lake that stores water.

For thousands of years, dams and reservoirs have been built for irrigation, flood prevention, water diversion, and even warfare purposes. Nowadays, dams are also used to generate hydropower.

Dam walls are often built for hydropower.

The construction of dams and reservoirs reduces sediment supply by varying degrees, sometimes by more than 50%, which leads to erosion. This can decay coastal ecosystems like mangroves and can even cause irreversible changes.

Another concerning effect of dams is that they restrict the migration of fish. Many freshwater species rely on free-flowing rivers to complete their life cycles.

The harm of building too many dams and reservoirs: A quick study

A good example to understand this effect is by observing salmon populations. In the USA, between 1933 and 1975, 211 dams were built during the construction of a hydropower system in Columbia Basin. This led to a massive loss in the wild salmon population.

Although hatchery and commercial aquaculture operations were underway, the wild salmon population failed to bounce back. Authorities had set a target for salmon recovery of 5 million, but after 34 years and $17.9 billion, they failed to meet this modest target.

The ecological reality of the effects of human activities needs to be acknowledged alongside economic viability.

It is not too late to include these considerations in the budding marine renewable industry.

Tread lightly: Our Ocean’s role in the energy transition

The Ocean has the potential to be at the heart of the energy transition. As we steer away from fossil fuels, the Ocean is enabling a new industry: marine renewable energy (MRE).

This includes offshore wind, floating solar, tidal, wave and Ocean current energies. At present, offshore wind technology is the most mature and commercially viable, whereas some other technologies are still in the development phase.

There is no doubt that MRE is less disastrous than fossil fuel extraction. But we must be careful not to ignore the environmental impacts of MRE. This is not a truly well understood area which makes this even more important.

Environmental impacts of Marine Renewable Energy installations

The underwater infrastructures for MRE installation, like cables and anchors, can affect benthic habitats like reefs and seagrass meadows, i.e., the bottom of the Ocean. It can also affect the open waters by changing its function and characteristics.

A row of bottom fixed wind farms in the Ocean.

The effects of MRE can be observed through the creation of artificial reefs, and biofouling (invasive species) in offshore wind farms.

Furthermore, there is a lack of research in the following areas:

– Collision risks for fish (with underwater MRE infrastructure)
– Associated fish behaviour
– Environmental interactions between commercial fishing and offshore wind farms
– Direct interactions between tidal turbines and specific seabird populations

Although underwater noise is not an issue for operational MRE, the construction phase can have major impacts.

For example, noise generated from construction of fixed-bottom wind farms can mask echolocation sounds used by marine life for hunting, navigation, and communication. It also has the potential to impair hearing. To mitigate these effects, floating wind farms are preferable, as they do not require piling.

As we have seen, avoiding, and minimising these environmental impacts will enable successful deployment of MRE technologies at a competitive cost. However, this is not possible without further research and additional data to truly understand these impacts.

How can we build better along our coastlines?

We need to understand our environmental impacts

Currently, there is little incentive to research the environmental impacts of MRE technologies. We need robust environmental impact assessments, as well as lifecycle assessments to be as resource efficient and considerate to the Ocean and marine life.

Despite a few environmental concerns, MRE technologies are still so much better than relying on fossil fuels, greatly mitigating greenhouse gas emissions. We must choose renewable energy where possible and strive to understand the potential impacts so we can avoid and reduce them.

We need to account for ecosystems as a whole

Considering an ecosystem as a whole means that we focus on restoring our ecosystems and enhancing ecosystem services to protect us from the effects of climate change.

These kinds of measures are multi-disciplinary, which paints a better picture of what we are dealing with than traditional technical measures. This is especially needed for successful implementation of solutions to mitigate the negative effects of dams and reservoirs.

We need to invest in nature-based solutions:

Nature-based solutions focus on the protection, restoration, and management of natural and semi-natural ecosystems, to benefit both human beings and biodiversity.

The difference between nature-based solutions and ecosystem-based approaches can be found here.

Investment in nature-based solutions like coastal blue carbon ecosystems (mangroves, seagrass etc.) are important for continual coastal security and carbon sequestration.

These solutions, in addition to adaptation strategies, will be key in protecting coastal and island communities.

Growing mangrove trees. Mangroves are climate change heroes.

Support ongoing scientific consensus

We continue to learn about the effects of our activities on the natural environment and subsequently, ourselves, as we unlearn that humans and nature are not separate entities.

Following the latest evidence and implementing policies and practices to reflect those changes are key to limiting the damage we have done. We must not wait any longer as we have many reliable solutions already.

Our hope to save and restore the Ocean starts on land.

As with most climate initiatives affecting the Ocean, we must make sure our Ocean is part of the conversation.

Post by

Saithya Ullas

Mangroves: Underrated Climate Change Heroes

Monthly: Impact in your inbox.

19. 05. 2022 Saithya Ullas

Our Impact: How does climate change impact the Ocean?

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This is part of our Four Pillars work that highlights the importance of the Ocean, the human-made threats it faces, and the solutions our Ocean provides.

Climate change impacts everything – including our Ocean

With rising temperatures and melting ice sheets, climate change has had a massive impact on the Ocean.

The changing composition of gases in the atmosphere is altering life as we know it. We must not allow this catastrophe to unravel any further.

But how did we get here?

The emerging issue of ‘climate change’

Over the last century, many scientists have raised their concerns about global warming while the fossil fuel industry was booming.

Now, we know that these concerns have been validated many times over, through computer simulations and direct observations (tree rings, ice cores, etc).

According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) it is now widely accepted that humans are the primary drivers of climate change, owing to the advent of burning fossil fuels.

What role does the Ocean play in the climate change conversation?

Our beloved recreational activities would not be possible without the Ocean

The Ocean helps regulate land temperature and drives global weather patterns.

It absorbs the sun’s heat, transferring it to the atmosphere and distributing it around the world, warming in the winter and cooling in the summer. In fact, more than 90% of the heat from global warming is stored in the Oceanacting as one of the most important carbon sinks on Earth.

The excess of emissions in the atmosphere has tampered with the Ocean’s capacity of storing it while still being able to thrive.

How can we understand the impact of climate change on the Ocean?

There are many indicators that help us understand the effects of climate change on the Ocean:

The leading climate change indicator in the Ocean: Sea level rise.

The rise in temperatures cause water to expand and ice sheets to melt. This results in sea level rise. Globally, the changes in sea levels are a leading indicator of climate change.

People using boats in response to flooding.

During the 21st century, the global mean sea level is likely to rise at least 30 cm even assuming more moderate greenhouse gas emissions in the coming decades.

Even if adaptive measures are in place, global flood losses for coastal cities are predicted to increase from $6 billion in 2005 to $1 trillion by 2050.

Global warming of 4°C by 2100 would lead to a median sea-level rise of nearly 1 metre above the 1980 to 1999 levels. At today’s population distribution, that would threaten the lives and livelihoods of between 150 to 250 million people.

It goes without saying that the effects of sea level rise are already being felt in many parts of the world.

In Indonesia, 75% of the country’s cities are in coastal areas. With the country being prone to frequent natural disasters like flooding, tornadoes, and landslides, over 110 million people in the cities are exposed to the devastating impacts of climate change.

These impacts can often be felt alongside disruptions to agriculture (like rice fields), water resources (potential salinisation of ground water) and other resources.

What is Ocean acidification?

As the Ocean gets warmer, we observe changes in the chemistry of the water. The reduced pH level of water has led to Ocean acidification, forming carbonic acid.

Global surface Ocean pH has declined on average by approximately 0.1 since the Industrial Revolution, with an increase in acidity of about 30%.

This is making it harder for marine organisms (including larvae) to develop calcium carbonate shells and skeletons, increasing their vulnerability and harming their overall health. This invariably impacts food security due to the adverse effects on fisheries and aquaculture.

What’s the harm of Ocean deoxygenation?

Unfortunately, the warming Ocean also raises the oxygen demand of living organisms and as a result, there is less oxygen available for marine life.

Ocean oxygen levels have decreased by 2% in the past five decades and are expected to reduce a further 3–4% by 2100.

Oxygen depletion is one of the most serious threats to the coastal marine ecosystem including coral reefs and sea grass meadows, reducing biodiversity, limiting both the production of oxygen and sequestration of atmospheric CO_2, and increasing the risk of coastal flooding.

The Ocean covers 70% of our planet – but it’s still impacted by climate change.

Here is a good introductory video outlining this topic:

Woah, is the fate of our Ocean already sealed?

Fortunately, not yet.

We are alive in a crucial period of time, with the window of action and opportunity closing in on us.

The IPCC’s modelling suggests that the only way to limit global warming to 1.5C is we take immediate action after 2020, which is, well, now.

A woman's hand with green painted nail polish, a wedding ring and a silver bracelet reach out into the Ocean waves. We are connected to the Ocean - it provides our every second breath and supports all life on Earth.

In this scenario, emissions are projected to peak between 2020-2025. This means that we need to reduce emissions by 43% by 2030, and 84% by 2050.

Apart from phasing out fossil fuels, reducing global carbon and methane emissions is a key solution to slow down Ocean warming. Increasing Marine Protected Areas (MPA’s) is another way of protecting large areas of the Ocean from further exploitation. We must also safeguard and restore coastal ecosystems which will benefit biodiversity and humans alike.

A healthy Ocean is key to achieving our climate goals.

If the Ocean thrives, so do we.

Post by

Saithya Ullas

Mangroves: Underrated Climate Change Heroes

Monthly: Impact in your inbox.

18. 05. 2022 Saithya Ullas

Our Impact: It’s not just plastic polluting our Ocean

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This is part of our Four Pillars work that highlights the importance of the Ocean, the human-made threats it faces, and the solutions our Ocean provides.

It’s not just plastic polluting our Ocean

With plastic encroaching so many parts of our lives since the 1950’s, it would be hard to find a person today who hasn’t heard of this life-changing material. Despite all its uses, it is undeniable that plastic is choking our Ocean.

But it’s not just plastic.

Marine pollution can be observed in many different forms (see figure below).

From chemical waste to noise, let’s explore the alarming ways in which we pollute the Ocean.

Types of Ocean pollution: Plastic pollution, nutrient pollution, light, noise and industrial pollution. Ocean Generation is breaking down the kinds of pollution that impact our Ocean.

We are drowning in plastic

Plastic is the greatest concern of all the marine litter in the Ocean.

With 80% of plastic originating from land, it is clear that our mismanagement of plastic is threatening marine life. In fact, marine debris from waste streams on land and at sea into the Ocean from rivers are estimated at 1.15–2.41 million metric tons annually.

Plastic also reaches the Ocean as a result of extreme events and natural disasters like floods, hurricanes, and tsunamis.

One study even states that millions of tons of plastic may reach the Ocean this way, matching the magnitude of plastic from land.

The most common way plastic harms marine life is through entanglement. This is not to mention the repercussions felt through the food chain when species ingest plastics (and microplastics) unknowingly.

From whales, to birds, to turtles, plastic is mistaken for prey and consumed with traumatic consequences like infections and internal injuries.

In the UN report, Second World Ocean Assessment (WOA) 2021, it was stated that scientific and medical understanding of the health threat of plastic pollution was inadequate. But since then, scientists have published studies confirming the presence of plastic in our blood and lungs.

These findings have sparked a greater support for more research into the effects of plastic on human health.

Changes to marine communities are far from being the only effects of pollution.

Half of the image shows a beautiful blue, clean Ocean. The other half shows a polluted, grey, Ocean with plastic bottles and nutrient pollution. Ocean Generation shares ways to tackle plastic pollution and other Ocean threats.

The nutrients we allow into the Ocean

The increasing amount of nutrients seeping into the Ocean aid the excessive growth of algae.

This is called nutrient pollution. When the nutrients in question are nitrogen and phosphorus (from organic matter), this process is called eutrophication. It results in undesired changes to the health of coastal ecosystems.

Nutrient changes in the Ocean threaten:

– Carbon sequestration which limits climate change,
– Fisheries, affecting their mortality,
– Abundance of biodiversity,
– Production of oxygen, and the
– Mitigation of coastal flooding.

The single largest source of nitrogen and phosphorus are synthetic fertilisers.

Other agricultural inputs include animal husbandry and monocultures of legumes. Another source of nitrogen is the combustion of fossil fuels, releasing nitrogen in the form of NOx.

The most prevalent source of nutrient pollution is human sewage.

This is not a surprise considering 80% of municipal wastewater being released into the environment is untreated. Regionally, treated sewage varies from 90% in North America, 66% in Europe, 35% in Asia, and 14% in Latin America and the Caribbean to less than 1% in Africa.

This means that across the Ocean, we see an increase in phytoplankton and a decrease in oxygen levels. This disrupts fish stocks and increases the number of waterborne diseases.

But nutrients are not the only thing to worry about…

Ocean pollution – in different industries:

Industrial pollution can be observed from many sources. They are:

– Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs):
They are a complex group of substances known for their ability to endure in the environment. At present, we have observed declines in some regions, thanks to regulatory standards set by the Stockholm Convention but POPs are still a global concern.

For example, cetaceans have been detected with PCB (a kind of POP) concentrations which also affects the food chain, increasing the risk of cancer and infertility in humans.

– Metals:
Humans are responsible for large influxes of metals being released into the environment.

This includes metals such as mercury, lead, and cadmium but also rare earth metals. Metals do not disappear over time and can be trapped in sediments.

It was found that some Artic marine mammals are at high-risk with the concentration of methylmercury in their diet. This poses a risk to the food chain, and subsequently, human health.

– Radioactivity:
The discharge of radioactive substances into the Ocean from nuclear power plants continue to decline with the help of improved technologies.

– Pharmaceuticals and Personal Care Products:
This includes all chemicals used for healthcare, cosmetics, and medical purposes. The process to remove these substances from wastewater is not efficient.

As a result, the most frequently detected compounds are antibiotics. There have been some cases like the antibiotic resistant bacteria and soil found in the Artic and Pacific but overall, there is limited data on the true impact of these products in the Ocean.

Pharmaceuticals end up in our water stream and impact marine life. The image shows a white bowl filled with pills in different hues of blue.

– Shipping:

Globally, there is a decreasing trend in oil spills (over 7 tons), possibly owing to improved surveillance and increased awareness.

Shipping also increases the likelihood of marine litter, with the World Shipping Council estimating that on average, a total of 1382 containers are lost at sea each year.

Oil spills are catastrophic to Ocean health and hard to clean up.

Sound pollutes the Ocean (and we’re not considerate neighbours).

Human-made noise makes its way into the Ocean via vessels, renewable energy development, sonar, and seismic exploration. Marine traffic also contributes to noise pollution.

Over the past 10 years, there’s been increasing interest in developing guidelines to regulate noise in the Ocean.

We continue to learn and understand the impact of the noise we make on marine animals. Some of the observed examples are as follows:

– Increased stress levels in North Atlantic right whales
– Humpback whales: changes in foraging behaviour and vocal calls during breeding season
– Fish and coral larvae are less able to select appropriate habitats

Humpback whales are impacted by noise pollution. Image shows a close up of a humpback whale looking at the camera.

Hit the lights: Do you know how light pollution impacts marine life?

Although all living beings are sensitive to light in the environment, if organisms are subjected to light at the wrong place and time with varying intensity, it’s known as light pollution.

This affects the behaviour of many marine mammals. For example, on one Turkish beach, light pollution from a coastal village, paper mill and a tourist resort resulted in less than 40% of logger-head turtle hatchlings being able to reach back to the shore.

They get disoriented and sometimes are at risk of predation.

Baby turtle finding its way to the Ocean form the beach.

The most impactful way humans project artificial light is through urbanisation of coastal areas. The light we emit can be seen from space.

In fact, up to three quarters of seafloor close to coastal cities are exposed to artificial light. But other water bodies are not immune. In freshwater ecosystems, melatonin levels which are responsible for sleep or day and night cycles, are affected in freshwater fish.

In the Ocean itself, offshore development is of concern when assessing light pollution. Artificial light at night can penetrate deep into water (over 40m) depending on the clarity of water, with humans having the most impact in the top one metre of water.

Coastal city lit up at night near the Ocean. Cities never sleep.

What can we do to restore the Ocean?

We need to develop a wide range of solutions to combat the different types of pollution affecting the Ocean.

To tackle plastic pollution, a Global Plastic Treaty is underway to ensure optimal waste management and promote sustainable consumption and production of plastics.

As a society however, it is still in our best interests to reduce our reliance on plastic where possible. We need to dispose plastic in the safest way possible, not allowing it in our waterways.

Community garden featuring a middle aged Asian woman and young African child working in the garden.

Nutrient pollution can be curbed with the help of top-down approaches but also public awareness.

As a community, we can take a stronger stance and equip ourselves to monitor water quality, pushing for stronger policies. Those who have lawns and gardens can also minimise their pollutant run-off through many ways.

Moreover, better sewage systems are needed to achieve standards set by the World Health Organisation (WHO). In India, for example, despite efforts to operate better systems, nutrient pollution still persists. Industry stakeholders must develop and promote solutions to address pollutants in the agricultural sector. Innovative solutions are needed to reduce emissions and spills in shipping.

Lastly, there is a need to promote and fund the research required in further understanding all these issues because our Ocean is running out of time, awaiting solutions for the threats we’ve created.

There is only one Ocean, and it connects us all.

Post by

Saithya Ullas

Mangroves: Underrated Climate Change Heroes

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