Part I · Ocean Science
Ocean Health
Overview
The physical story beneath everything else in this guide.
The ocean absorbs more than 90% of the excess heat trapped by rising greenhouse gas concentrations, and roughly a third of the carbon dioxide people emit. Both of those facts make it the planet's largest active buffer against climate change, and both come at a cost: warmer water, more acidic water, and marine systems working harder to stay in balance.
The six topics that follow trace that story in order. They start with how much the ocean has already warmed, move through the carbon cycle and where ocean-linked emissions actually originate, map the effects on ecosystems and coastal communities, and end with the mitigation, adaptation and solution strategies already underway.