ABU DHABI: For Wendy Watson-Wright, CEO of the Ocean Frontier Institute, a transnational hub for ocean research, the biggest concern facing the ocean is “undoubtedly” carbon emissions.
“I’m not a natural pessimist, but in terms of climate change and greenhouses emissions, I would say we are dangerously close to midnight,” she said, calling it an “Ocean Doomsday Clock.” “Yes, overfishing is also an issue, but if you do not have an aquarium that can allow them to live in then you don’t have to worry about fishing — because there will be no fish.”
“Because of climate change, the ocean is warming and is losing oxygen directly through the carbon the ocean is absorbing — it is becoming more acid; it is becoming hot, sour and breathless.”
This has huge implications for all species, including human populations, Watson-Wright said.
“We have all read about coral reefs, coral bleaching and the warm waters, together with the deoxygenation of organisms which need oxygen to live, and we are having more and more dead zones largely caused by the warming. It also has implications for the shell species, which are the base of the food chain.”
She said if carbon emissions were halted today, the oceans would still take hundreds of years to recover.
“This is because the ocean is a big flywheel. On the other hand, if we did, we can start on the path to recovery. Probably some regions can be doing better, but it is a global issue. It is one atmosphere, one ocean. What we do in one ocean affects others.”
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