5 December 2019, Spain, Madrid - Globally, marine heatwaves have already doubled in frequency since 1982 and have become longer-lasting, more intense and more extensive due to man-made climate change. This is one of the findings in the Special Report on Oceans and Cryosphere by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) that was approved in September this year, one of many which will impact Pacific Islanders directly.
Given most Pacific islands are large ocean island states, it is crucial that the IPCC Special Oceans Report be considered in all decisions made when it comes to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
The Twenty-Fifth Conference of the Parties (COP) to the UNFCCC is known as the Blue COP for its strong ocean focus and as such, for the Pacific Islands, it is hoped the negotiations are guided by the scientific findings.
“Science is what guides this process. We should pay heed to the science, including this – the IPCC Special Report on Oceans and the Cryosphere, if we aren’t studying the science and using it go guide our national policies and international decisions made in this process, then something is wrong,” said Dr Melchior Mataki, the Permanent Secretary of the Solomon Islands Ministry of Environment, Climate Change, Disaster Management and Meteorology.
“We fought hard last year for the IPCC Special Report on 1.5 Degrees to be endorsed as a recognised document for which we base all our decisions at the COP but there was far too much opposition to the projections from the science. We can’t let that happen with the IPCC Special Report on Oceans, we should be listening to the science.”
One area of strong concern in this Report are the findings on marine heatwaves - the period of extreme warm near-sea surface temperature that persists for days to months and can extend over thousands of kilometers. The IPCC defines a heatwave as the extreme condition when the daily sea surface temperature is warmer than 99% of all recorded temperatures.
Marine heatwaves can cause large scale coral bleaching, disease and death of marine species, loss of biodiversity and ecosystem services and harmful algal blooms.
Unless strong commitments to reduction of greenhouse gas emissions are made at this COP in Madrid, Spain, marine heatwaves are going to cause much damage.
As it is now, according to the IPCC Special Report on Oceans, even if warming is limited to 1.5 Degrees the number of heatwave days are expected to be approximately 16 times higher than in the pre-industrial era.
Yet at 1.5 Degrees marine heatwaves will cover a smaller area and last for fewer days at a time. This lowered risk would have significant impacts on Pacific species resilience and survival.
“For the Pacific islands, as guardians of our ocean and as a people that live in the world’s largest ocean – where for many of us our land mass is so much smaller than our ocean space – our ocean is everything,” said Dr Mataki.
“For the Pacific, our ecosystems must be strong and resilient so we can be resilient as a people. For many of us it is the source of our livelihood. If we don’t take care of it then we will suffer. This latest IPCC Special Report on Oceans and Cryosphere tells us that we all need to do more, as a global community, to limit our global warming to 1.5 degrees in order to protect our oceans, which protect us.”
The Special Report on the Ocean and Cryoshpere in a Changing Climate by the IPCC saw 104 leading scientists act as coordinating lead authors and review editors. The team of authors were from 36 different countries for which over 6,900 publications are referenced in the Report. Over 31,000 comments were received in the three reviews of the Report from governments, agencies, NGOs and academia from across 80 countries.
The UNFCCC COP25 is held in Madrid, Spain from 2 – 13 December, 2019
To learn more about the Report please visit: https://www.ipcc.ch/srocc/home/