The climate crisis will affect us all in ways that we can find pretty hard to imagine
as the weather becomes more unpredictable and temperatures rise.
It could mean pretty drastic changes to our ways of life.
There are things we can do
like reducing our carbon footprint
changing our diet or the way we shop
but at times it can feel quite overwhelming to know where to start.
Not that many know, but some of the answers could lie in our ocean.
Did you know that about half of the world's oxygen
that's every other breath we take, is produced by the ocean.
That’s because the surface waters are home to phytoplankton,
microscopic marine plants that photosynthesize and produce oxygen huge seasonal blooms
and this process doesn't just produce oxygen
but it absorbs and stores away carbon in the ocean as well
over a third of the carbon dioxide ever produced by humans
has been absorbed by the ocean.
Much of the carbon absorbed at the surface is actually stored in deeper waters
in sediments on the seabed where it can remain
for hundreds or thousands of years.
This happens when the carbon absorbed by phytoplankton at the surface
sinks into deeper waters when the plankton die or eaten by larger creatures.
And it's not just plankton
coastal habitats, like mangroves, salt marshes
and seagrass meadows, all have a part to play
in helping to capture and store carbon
as well as acting as a natural defenses for our coastlines
and coastal communities against erosion and the impacts
of extreme weather patterns caused by climate change.
Yet we've lost so many of these natural defenses over time
as human encroachment and pollution have taken their toll.
To give you an idea of how important these natural habitats are
seagrass meadows can capture and store carbon at a rate
35 times faster than pristine tropical rainforest.
Yet in the UK alone, we've lost up to 92% of our seagrass meadows
along with 85% of our salt marshes
and across the world, we've lost over half of our mangrove forests.
The ocean doesn't just absorb and store carbon.
It helps to regulate the world's temperature as well
in the last 50 years over 90% of all the heat trapped by greenhouse gases
have been absorbed by the ocean.
In fact, without the ocean to buffer and protect us
the world would be 35 degrees hotter than it is right now,
but all this heat storage comes at a price.
A sea temperatures rise, millions of marine creatures from the great blue whale to microscopic plankton are suffering
some species can adapt by migrating to cooler waters,
but this isn't possible for all of them.
Coral reefs are particular badly affected by rising sea temperatures
which causes coral bleaching
which has meant that in the last 30 years, the world has lost over 50% of its coral reefs.
Currently only 5% of the world's ocean is properly protected
with many marine protected areas being that in name only, receiving limited management.
Scientists have suggested that to make a difference
we need to protect at least 30% of our ocean and do so with proper management measures,
like no-take zones and pollution control.
But if we were to take action for ocean recovery,
like protecting and restoring our coastal habitats,
rebuilding fish stocks and using the oceans generate green energy,
we could build back better by meeting a fifth of the emissions reductions
needed to achieve our goal of limiting global heating to one and a half degrees.
And that's before you take into account all the other benefits that come with it
like protection from storms, cleaner seas
or supporting our oceans incredible biodiversity.
WWF is working to protect our ocean
from working in partnership with Sky Ocean Rescue
and Project Seagrass to restore the UK seagrass meadows.
To working with government decision-makers, industries, consumers
and coastal communities to ensure that our seas have a healthier future.
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