{"id":45571,"date":"2021-06-09T14:23:42","date_gmt":"2021-06-09T12:23:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/unric.org\/en\/?p=45571"},"modified":"2021-06-18T14:45:50","modified_gmt":"2021-06-18T12:45:50","slug":"oceans-decade-science-as-a-tool-for-a-healthier-ocean","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unric.org\/en\/oceans-decade-science-as-a-tool-for-a-healthier-ocean\/","title":{"rendered":"Oceans Decade: Science as a tool for a healthier ocean"},"content":{"rendered":"
The ocean is the largest ecosystem on earth and invaluable for the survival of our planet. But it is an ecosystem under pressure. To protect the ocean and to promote ocean sciences as a tool for innovative solutions for a healthier and more resilient ocean, the UN Decade for Ocean Science for Sustainable Development<\/a> was launched this week.<\/p>\n Plankton: Hero of the <\/strong>ocean<\/strong><\/p>\n Novel scientific solutions are being deployed worldwide. Among these are high-tech underwater robots sampling the ocean floor for plankton. As plankton is such a small organism, it is highly sensitive to change and therefore has an important early warning function for climate change. Scientists are unveiling those microscopic changes in plankton.<\/p>\n Underwater robots are also used to take carbon samples. These are then examined to investigate the impact of human activity on the natural balance between the ocean and the atmosphere. The ocean absorbs more than 90% of the excess heat from greenhouse gases<\/a>, protecting us from further temperature rises due to climate change. However, the higher the carbon rates measured in those samples, less the ocean will be able to play that protective role.<\/p>\n