By Hauwa Ali
Latest estimates from the United Nations (UN) Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization warn that w h the increase in temperature today at a 1.1°C, an estimated 60 percent of the world’s marine ecosystems have already been degraded and more than half of the world’s marine species may stand on the brink of extinction by 2100. .
.he Organisation said that the ocean has long taken the brunt of the impacts of human-made global warming, and as the planet’s greatest carbon sink, the ocean absorbs excess heat and energy released from rising greenhouse gas emissions trapped in the Earth’s system.
“Today, the ocean has absorbed about 90 percent of the heat generated by rising emissions.
“As the excessive heat and energy warm ocean, the change in temperature leads to unparalleled cascading effects, including ice-melting, sea-level rise, marine heatwaves, and ocean acidification.
“These changes ultimately cause a lasting impact on marine biodiversity, and the lives and livelihoods of coastal communities and beyond – including around 680 million people living in low-lying coastal areas, almost 2 billion who live in half of the world’s megacities that are coastal, nearly half of the world’s population (3.3 billion) that depends on fish for protein, and almost 60 million people who work in fisheries and the aquaculture sector worldwide.” The org organization.