In the video below, Dr Ian Butler, a fisheries scientist in the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences, talks about how marine heatwaves in the Pacific region are forcing marine animals and plants to change how and where they live – they need to adapt, or they will disappear. Dr Butler also explains how the marine heatwaves are resulting in the constant bleaching of coral reefs in the north of Australia, making it harder for them to recover.
This and many other topics are covered in the World Ocean Assessments, the only global integrated assessments of the state of the ocean. Established by the United Nations General Assembly and prepared by hundreds of scientists from all over the world, the Assessments provide a regular review of the environmental, economic and social aspects of the world’s ocean. Two Assessments have already been completed spanning approximately a decade, and the third Assessment will be released at the end of this year.
