The Alarming Impact of Climate Change on our Oceans

Today we are pleased to present Professor Dr. Mojib Latif, a climatologist and Head of Research, Marine Meteorology, at the GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel in Germany, one of the world’s leading institutes in marine sciences. Dr. Latif begins by explaining how climate change and human activities are severely damaging the world’s oceans.

With climate change already causing higher ocean temperatures, rising sea levels, ocean acidification, and the loss of ocean biodiversity, what does the future hold for our oceans? “If we will experience something like an accelerating climate change, if there won’t be any climate protection, then we will have an additional warming in the global average of four or five, maybe six degrees, This will lead to a complete loss of tropical corals, sea level will rise by an additional one meter by the end of the century, but with strong regional variations. And finally, acidification will continue. We will, in the worst-case scenario, have pH values, by which we measure the acidity of the sea water, well below a value of 8. And well, we believe that, if this really happens, many marine ecosystems will be in danger and biodiversity will dramatically decline in response to this huge acidification. And this will be an acidification we haven't experienced for many, many millions of years and it will be at least unprecedented in man’s history.”

What is the most effective thing we can do to stop global warming? According to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) report, Livestock’s Long Shadow, the raising of livestock is responsible for approximately 18 percent of all greenhouse gas emission, more than all forms of transportation combined. And a more recent report, Livestock and Climate Change, co-authored by Robert Goodland and Jeff Anhang, stated that, in fact, meat production accounts for 51% of annual worldwide greenhouse gas emissions! By adopting a noble and compassionate plant-based lifestyle, we could help to save our precious oceans.