Renowned ecologist from the Department of Fisheries, Ratnavali Poosawat, stated: “Our vast oceans are a vital component in the Earth’s climate system, soaking up almost 90% of the planet’s heat. As the Earth’s temperature rises due to global warming, the ocean’s power to absorb CO2 is affected, leading to a 30% decrease in oxygen levels. This drop in oxygen, in turn, leads to a phenomenon known as ‘ocean acidification’.”
According to Ratnavali, global warming not only alters wind patterns but also has detrimental effects on the ocean’s water quality. When you couple this with human-made problems like pollution, marine life is the one that suffers the most. With less fish in the seas, mammals that rely on seafood start to struggle for sustenance. Naturally, this ripple effect also disturbs the human food chain and impacts our food sources.
Ratnavali further explained that with the average annual sea levels rising by about 3.1mm, the precarious balance of marine ecosystems is disturbed. Rising sea levels threaten not only the breeding grounds for juvenile marine life and mating sites for sea creatures like turtles, fish and shrimp but also impact human settlements, particularly coastal fishing communities. The shift caused by global warming or ‘climate chaos’ is forcing these communities to adapt or risk unemployment and a decreased dependence on the ocean due to its unpredictable nature.
From a fisheries perspective, combating these issues requires a two-pronged approach. Sustainable aquaculture practices that efficiently use resources are one part of the solution. The other part involves employing modern Internet of Things (IoT) technology to monitor water quality and temperature in breeding regions. The challenge though is controlling the vast ocean environment due to the multitude of problems like global warming and industrial pollution, which can only be controlled up to a point, Ratnavali pointed out.
Marine life is known for its adaptability to changing water temperatures and seasons. For example, it adjusts egg-laying times, and even corals recover. However, Ratnavali cautioned that around 20-30% of marine species are facing an existential threat due to these changes.
Veterinarian Rachawadee Chantara from the Upper Gulf of Thailand Marine and Coastal Resources Research and Development Institute, raised another concern. She explained that fluctuating winds don’t just cause coastal erosion, but they also separate young marine animals from their mothers, specifically those who depend heavily on nursing. These difficult conditions put mature and sick marine animals at risk of dying, leading to a grim situation for marine wildlife on beaches, mangroves and sea areas.
She further elaborated that global warming’s detrimental impact is most apparent in the appalling water quality of oceans, especially in the upper Gulf of Thailand where over half of the water is in a poor state or steadily deteriorating. What locals term as ‘red water’ is scientifically known as eutrophication – a substantial oxygen deficiency caused by a multitude of factors.
The most significant culprits are households, ships and agriculture, that release wastewater into the seas, leading to nitrogen and phosphorus contamination. These contaminants act as a fertilizer promoting rapid plant growth, which in turn reduces oxygen levels and changes the water colour to red. This oxygen deficit can lead to the death of fish who fail to access their food supply in these harsh conditions.
Lastly, Rachawadee warned of the increased acidity levels in oceans caused by carbon dioxide absorption. It poses severe risks to marine species that rely on calcium carbonate structures to survive, like corals and shellfish, who find it increasingly hard to form protective shells in these conditions.
The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment has stepped up its efforts launching a marine project to raise awareness about the urgent need to reduce plastic waste and implement the latest technology for monitoring and assessing marine mammal nursing populations and offshore populations. Their ultimate goal is to protect, conserve, evaluate, and regenerate marine resources and coastal domains. “Every small effort counts towards achieving this as a safe ocean and coast means safe human food sources for all,” Rachawadee observed.
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