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Gary G. Borisy, Director & CEO Woods Hole Marine Biological Laboratory Woods Hole, MA, USA

A Vicious Cycle. Climate Change. Gary G. Borisy, Director & CEO Woods Hole Marine Biological Laboratory Woods Hole, MA, USA. Biodiversity Loss . Ocean Changes. Oceans Day, Copenhagen December 14, 2009. Biodiversity Loss. Three planetary boundaries have been overstepped.

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Gary G. Borisy, Director & CEO Woods Hole Marine Biological Laboratory Woods Hole, MA, USA

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  1. A Vicious Cycle Climate Change Gary G. Borisy, Director & CEO Woods Hole Marine Biological LaboratoryWoods Hole, MA, USA Biodiversity Loss Ocean Changes Oceans Day, Copenhagen December 14, 2009

  2. Biodiversity Loss Three planetary boundaries have been overstepped Biodiversity loss N2 Climate Change Rockstrom et al., A safe operating space for humanity, 24 Sep 2009 Nature 461: 472 – 475

  3. Biodiversity Loss • Human activities are driving the sixth major extinction in the history of life,-- a new era, the Anthropocene. • Species are disappearing at 100 to 1,000 times the natural rate. • At least 21% of mammal, 12% of bird and 29% of amphibian species are now threatened with extinction. • Marine species threatened by ocean acidification, loss of coral reefs and loss of coastal habitats. • Species loss reverberates through food webs, changes ecosystem processes, and weakens their resilience to climate change. Nature 19 November 2009

  4. Climate & Oceans • The ocean is a major regulating force of climate system • The ocean is the largest carbon store on the planet: 50 x more CO2 in ocean than in atmosphere • The ocean currently absorbs ~25% of the CO2 emitted into the atmosphere (2008) • But, the efficiency of the ocean to store CO2 has decreased and is weakening • The absorption of CO2 is leading to acidification of the ocean • The ocean sequesters carbon by means of a “biological pump” • See “Blue Carbon” The role of healthy oceans in binding carbon. Nelleman et al., 2009; UNEP, FAO, IOC, IUCN UNESCO interagency report

  5. Ocean Biological Pump • The “biological pump” is a food web of species interactions • It depends critically on marine biodiversity • It begins with phytoplankton responsible for fixing 50% of planetary carbon • It ultimately leads to sequestering carbon in sediments on sea floor • Ocean changes disrupt the food web and, therefore, the pump • Without the pump, atmospheric levels of CO2 would be much higher, -- 450 ppm Chisholm, Nature 2000

  6. Protecting Biodiversity • The linkage between marine biodiversity and ecosystem function needs to be better understood • Some international efforts to discover and catalogue biodiversity have been launched -- Encyclopedia of Life -- Census of Marine Life -- International Census of Marine Microbes -- International Barcode of Life • CAMEO is a new US NSF program to conduct comparative analysis of marine ecosystem organization; L. Deegan, MBL • 2010 is the UN International Year of Biodiversity. Biodiversity summit in Nagoya.

  7. Closing Words The one process now going on that will take millions of years to correct is the loss of genetic and species diversity by the destruction of natural habitats. This is the folly that our descendents are least likely to forgive us. E.O. Wilson “Biophilia” 1984 p 121

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