Earth Equity News

U.N. Study: IPCC Underestimated Ocean Warming by Factors of 2-4. By Grant McCool, Reuters, April 9, 2008. "Warming trends in a third of the world's large ocean regions are two to four times greater than previously reported averages, increasing the risk to marine life and fisheries, a U.N.-backed environmental study said. Overfishing, coastal pollution and degradation of water quality were common in all 64 large marine ecosystems studied by scientists who contributed to the U.N. Environmental Program report presented at an international conference on oceans, coasts and islands in Vietnam this week... The report said that in 18 of the 64 regions, 'the accelerated warming trends are 2-4 times greater than the average trends reported in 2007 by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change'. The week-long 4th global conference on oceans, coasts and islands in Hanoi is a forum for developing countries trying to improve ocean governance and coastal management, especially in the light of climate change… Scientists said the 800-page report focuses on the risk to the sustainability of the $12.6 trillion value of goods and services produced each year in the so-called large marine ecosystems. The most rapid warming was recorded in the Baltic Sea at 1.35 degrees Celsius in the past 25 years. Other areas under threat included the Yellow Sea, one of the most heavily over-fished and environmentally degraded seas in the world."