Biblioteca

Citizens can help protect ocean biodiversity As climate change heats the ocean, marine conservation is hindered by how little is known about the effects of warming on biodiversity. There is simply not enough data to act on. To begin addressing this, UNESCO’s Environmental DNA (eDNA) Expeditions inventoried marine biodiversity at 21 of UNESCO’s 51 World Heritage marine sites. These are good starting points—the 51 sites host over one third of the world’s vulnerable and endangered marine species, a fifth of the world’s blue carbon, and at least 15% of the global surface area of coral reefs. Yet most of the sites are threatened by climate change. eDNA Expeditions’ 250 volunteers – ages 6 and up, from 19 countries – identified over 4,000 species. Their data suggest that warming oceans risk pushing many species outside of their known thermal ranges, raising key questions about how to protect them. eDNA monitoring is part of the solution. As a powerful, cost-effective method that can be conducted by thousands of citizen scientists, eDNA monitoring can provide the data needed to support science-based decision making. It can also revolutionize the world’s understanding of marine biodiversity – and inspire the next generation of ocean researchers.“Since wars begin in the minds of men and...