Linwood Pendleton - A Healthy Ocean: Why it Matters to our Mission

Abstract:

The Ocean covers 70% of the surface of the planet, yet we are only beginning to understand the extent and depth of the services it provides to us daily in terms of economic and ecological benefits. The more fundamental role of the ocean in absorbing nutrients, cycling carbon, regulating climate, harboring biodiversity and providing basic life support to planet Earth remains to be quantified. This 3 hour Mini-symposium will explore some of the essential ecosystem goods and services that Coastal and Marine Ecosystems provide to the hundreds of millions of people who depend on these services directly for livelihoods, nutrition and environmental security, as well as the costs to society at large from the loss of ocean services related to pollution absorption, changes in ocean productivity, CO₂ sequestration, and climate regulation as a result of rapidly increasing atmospheric CO₂ concentrations and more local human pressures. We will also hear about the need to better value these non-market services and to capture the costs of their degradation in decision-making as a fundamental step toward reversing the incentives and behaviors that have led to rapid declines in ocean health in the last century. Finally, we will hear about some new opportunities in the emerging field of Blue Carbon--capturing and protecting carbon in natural coastal carbon sinks--which may offer some needed financial incentives to protecting threatened ecosystems like mangroves and coral reefs.