Focus: Climate change (COP21)
More than 600 fake adverts were displayed across Paris in a bid to expose the “corporate takeover” of the COP21 climate talks that began on November 30. The adverts, orchestrated by the UK-based campaign group Brandalism, were aimed at highlighting the li
Climate will affect marine environment and economy
The primary effect of climate change is increasing carbon dioxide and global average temperature. A variety of secondary effects, include sea levels rising, impacts on agriculture, reductions in the ozone layer, increased extreme weather, and the spread of disease both in the animal kingdom and in human populations. It is essential that a global collaborative approach can be adopted with all stakeholders involved from the grass roots up — the public through to industry, government and policy.
We need to be addressing it from every angle; such as our household waste output, recycling policies, reducing our home and business electricity usage, reducing the requirement of fossil fuels, changing agricultural practices and culture, and even preventing war and international conflicts, which can result in the displacement of human populations placing strain on urban environments.
It is paramount that we address a major issue which is to keep global temperature increase below the 2°C limit. With higher average temperatures it is expected that global hurricane intensity, global heat waves, flooding events will increase, and the diversity and health of marine species will also be significantly affected. Already we are seeing some very current issues affecting the marine environment from coral bleaching and ocean acidification to unusual mortality events of marine species.