pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Marine reserves can mitigate and promote adaptation to climate change - PubMed

  • ️Sun Jan 01 2017

. 2017 Jun 13;114(24):6167-6175.

doi: 10.1073/pnas.1701262114. Epub 2017 Jun 5.

Affiliations

Marine reserves can mitigate and promote adaptation to climate change

Callum M Roberts et al. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2017.

Abstract

Strong decreases in greenhouse gas emissions are required to meet the reduction trajectory resolved within the 2015 Paris Agreement. However, even these decreases will not avert serious stress and damage to life on Earth, and additional steps are needed to boost the resilience of ecosystems, safeguard their wildlife, and protect their capacity to supply vital goods and services. We discuss how well-managed marine reserves may help marine ecosystems and people adapt to five prominent impacts of climate change: acidification, sea-level rise, intensification of storms, shifts in species distribution, and decreased productivity and oxygen availability, as well as their cumulative effects. We explore the role of managed ecosystems in mitigating climate change by promoting carbon sequestration and storage and by buffering against uncertainty in management, environmental fluctuations, directional change, and extreme events. We highlight both strengths and limitations and conclude that marine reserves are a viable low-tech, cost-effective adaptation strategy that would yield multiple cobenefits from local to global scales, improving the outlook for the environment and people into the future.

Keywords: MPA; ecological insurance; global change; marine protected areas; nature-based solution.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Fig. 1.
Fig. 1.

Eight illustrative pathways by which MPAs can mitigate and promote adaptation to the effects of climate change in the oceans.

Comment in

  • Protect the high seas from harm.

    [No authors listed] [No authors listed] Nature. 2018 Jan 11;553(7687):127-128. doi: 10.1038/d41586-018-00102-9. Nature. 2018. PMID: 29323318 No abstract available.

Similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change . Climate change 2013: The physical science basis. In: Stocker TF, et al., editors. Contribution of Working Group I to the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Cambridge Univ Press; Cambridge, UK: 2013.
    1. United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change . Adoption of the Paris Agreement. Proposal by the President. UNFCCC. Conference of the Parties (COP) United Nations; Geneva: 2015.
    1. Magnan AK, et al. Implications of the Paris agreement for the ocean. Nat Clim Chang. 2016;6:732–735.
    1. Kintisch E. Climate crossroads. Science. 2015;350:1016–1017. - PubMed
    1. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change . In: Climate Change 2014: Impacts, Adaptation, and Vulnerability. Part A: Global and Sectoral Aspects. Contribution of Working Group II to the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Field CB, et al., editors. Cambridge Univ Press; Cambridge, UK: 2014.

Publication types

MeSH terms