On this edition of Call’s One Planet Series, we're discussing the impacts of the climate crisis on our oceans, which holds vast quantities of carbon. Last year, the oceans set another heat record with global consequences.
A new study from UC San Diego’s Scripps Institution of Oceanography also finds that the true economic cost of the climate crisis is nearly double when ocean impacts are included. Known as the blue social cost of carbon, this measure accounts for damage to coral reefs, fisheries, mangroves, kelp forests, and coastal infrastructure, as well as impacts on human health and nutrition. The research shows that including ocean impacts increases the social cost of carbon from $51 to $97 per ton of CO₂, translating to nearly $2 trillion in ocean-related damages for a single year of global emissions.
What we can do to minimize even more damage?
Guests:
Joellen Russell, distinguished professor in the Department of Geosciences at the University of Arizona, Chair of the NOAA Science Advisory Board’s Climate Working Group, and one of the founding members of @science_moms
Maria Brown, national leader in marine conservation whose career has shaped the future of marine protected areas along the California coast
Resources:
Ocean Health: What if the Ocean is at a Tipping Point?
San Francisco Chronicle: Trump wants to drill for oil in the protected monuments along California’s coastline
OB Rag: No, Trump Won’t Be Able to ‘Drill, Baby Drill’ Off California’s Coast
The New York Times: A Shift for NOAA’s Surveys: From Science to Mining
The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists: Science Moms lean into 'humanness' to educate on climate
The Christian Science Monitor: Meet the scientist moms fighting climate change for their children
