New Climate Report Warns That The Oceans May Be In Trouble

The world’s oceans and mountains are in jeopardy, and so are we, according to a new report from United Nations climate scientists that released early Wednesday.

The “Special Report on Oceans and the Cryosphere” warns that the world’s oceans have reached or are nearing critical tipping points. Oceans have gotten warmer, more acidic and are losing oxygen, resulting in a cascade of negative effects that are wreaking havoc on coral and other marine ecosystems, threatening the collapse of the world’s fisheries and turbocharging deadly hurricanes and tropical storms, according to USA Today.

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Teams of scientists from the U.N.’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change explored the farthest corners of Earth, from the highest Alpine regions to the deepest oceans, said panel vice-chair and an National Oceanic and Atmosphere Administration deputy assistant administrator for research, Ko Barrett, who also stated, ” even in these remote places climate change is evident.”

The report explains as glaciers and ice sheets have melted faster, and rising temperatures have warmed the surface of the sea, the planet’s marine zones have absorbed the heat, Barrett said, adding that the systems are now at or near overload.

“For decades, the ocean has been acting like a sponge … but it can’t keep up,” Barrett said. “The consequences for nature and humanity are sweeping and severe.”

Scientists have confirmed clear links between ice loss and rising seas and an array of impacts, including stronger hurricanes and storms in the Atlantic Ocean.

According to the report, most of the East and West coasts in the U.S. will experience what were once “hundred-year” floods on an annual basis even if greenhouse gas emissions are dramatically reduced, unless major investments are made to adapt to the coming high waters.

Globally, preparing for the floods as seas rise could cost hundreds of billions of dollars per year. In the absence of major adaptation efforts, extreme coastal flooding will become common by the end of the century due to sea-level rise. According to the report, doing little or nothing will result in catastrophic impacts.

“This report should erase any doubts about the peril that climate change poses for the health of the ocean and, as a consequence, for human well-being,” John Tanzer of the World Wildlife Fund’s global oceans program said. “From coral reefs and mangroves to fish populations and coastal habitats, climate change and human pressures are rapidly destroying the natural capital that supports the lives and livelihoods of hundreds of millions of people around the world.”

The report, finalized by IPCC scientists along with representatives of 110 countries in Monaco this week, came the day after an urgently convened Climate Action Summit was held at U.N. headquarters in New York.

Youth activist Greta Thunberg chastised world leaders at the start of the session, saying “This is all wrong. I shouldn’t be up here, I should be back in school on the other side of the ocean.” With a cracking voice, she told the global leaders they were failing. “For more than 30 years the science has been crystal clear. How dare you continue to look away?”

However, the world’s largest polluters which include the U.S., China, and India, sat quietly or pledged little to nothing in terms of lowering harmful carbon dioxide and other industrial gases that continue to pile up at unprecedented levels in the Earth’s atmosphere according to the publication.

India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi vowed to more than double renewable energy, as Donald Trump listened quietly in the audience. About 70 smaller countries, most of whom are already fighting with the climate crisis, did pledge further cuts, although their collective emissions are relatively small in comparison.

“Unless we accelerate efforts to curb carbon emissions and take greater steps to protect our oceans, there will be devastating human, environmental and economic consequences,” Greenpeace scientist Melissa Wang told the BBC.

It’s also stated water scarcity and wildfires will become worse as glaciers melt and snowpack declines. Communities that rely on melt and runoff water for agriculture and drinking water are being left high and dry, while wildfires have grown increasingly common in the Arctic and high mountains.

“As the … report makes clear, this is a global problem, which requires action by everyone – countries, companies, and civil society – to solve,” Enric Sala, explorer in residence at the National Geographic Society emphasized. “Inaction means the collapse of our life support system, with catastrophic consequences for human society.”