B.C. launches blueprint to fend off climate's 'one-two punch' on the ocean
CTV
B.C. has unveiled an action plan to tackle the two greatest climate threats to the ocean, coastal communities and marine ecosystems on the West Coast.
B.C. has unveiled an action plan to tackle the two greatest climate threats to the ocean, coastal communities and marine ecosystems on the West Coast.
Ocean acidification and hypoxia (OAH), or plummeting oxygen levels, that often occur in tandem with a snowball effect, are spiking due to human-caused greenhouse gas emissions.
The plan's goals include strengthening scientific collaboration and research and public awareness on these issues. Finding ways to adapt to or mitigate the negative impacts of OAH is also a priority.
The province also wants a better understanding of how or if blue carbon - CO2 captured naturally from the atmosphere by marine plants and algae - could or should be used as a natural solution to buffer acidification and hypoxia.
“It's really important we start to improve our understanding of what parts of the ocean will be vulnerable,” said Rebecca Martone, executive director of the Ocean Decade Collaborative Center, which helped shape B.C.'s OAH plan.
“These two stressors are a one-two punch to ocean ecosystems.”
The province has also allocated $2 million for a Climate Ready Seafood Program to fund projects that address the plan's priorities - such as research that will help inform responses to OAH, or technology and practices that help the aquaculture industry adapt to the changing ocean, Martone said.
