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To cap off the year, Our Daily Planet is bringing you the biggest stories of 2019.  We wish you all the best this holiday season! 

 Ocean

The northern shore of Baffin Island, Canada where the country's new Arctic protected area is located.
Image: Enric Sala, National Geographic Society

Top Stories of 2019: The Ocean Is On the Rise

In 2019, the ocean finally got its due.  From a growing public determination to end ocean plastic pollution (think straw bans) and the increasing scientific recognition that the ocean has taken the brunt of climate emissions and now is rapidly changing in ways that are impacting people all around the world today (like sea-level rise and historic/chronic flooding jeopardizing places from Houston to Venice), the ocean as an environmental cause finally got the attention it deserves.  

The biggest news came from the UN's climate scientists panel, which in September issued its Special Report on the Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate that assessed the physical processes and impacts of climate change on ocean, coastal, polar and mountain ecosystems.  The ocean is a carbon sponge and has absorbed 93% of the excess heat caused by climate change and it is reaching a breaking point according to the IPCC. 

The Report concluded that there is overwhelming evidence that the "Melting glaciers and ice sheets are causing sea level rise, and coastal extreme events are becoming more severe." According to The Guardian:

Why This Matters:  The ocean connects everyone on the planet, and globally there is tremendous support for protecting it -- we are called the "blue planet" for a reason.  Changes to the ocean caused by climate change and other pollution and stressors like overfishing have the potential to significantly impact communities and nations -- even global security -- and matter more than ever as the increasingly competitive race to catch fish to feed expanding coastal populations and the need to move major cities away from coastlines before they are literally drowned.

But there are reasons for hope too.  The potential for wind energy derived from floating wind turbines is just beginning to be developed but could be transformative. And ocean conservation measures could also help solve the climate crisis according to a High-Level Panel for a Sustainable Ocean Economy (HLP) made up of 14 serving heads of government that issued a report last fall that provides a roadmap to reducing global GHG emissions by up to 4 billion tons of carbon dioxide in 2030 and by up to 11 billion tons in 2050, which would reduce emissions by as much as 21% of the emission reduction required in 2050 to limit warming to 1.5°C and 25% for a 2°C target.

Five Good News Stories in 2019 For The Blue Planet  Read more...

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