
Global climate change is the warming of our planet due to rising CO2 concentrations in the atmosphere, and as residents on this planet we are starting to see related changes in ecosystems.  These changes are starting with the ocean and many people don't realize that the ocean affects us greatly on land.  Some of these problems that we are already seeing in the ocean include sea level rise, ocean warming, and ocean acidification (Provencher).  These problems effect ecosystems by starting with the source of food chains, phytoplankton.  Many phytoplankton communities have been declining in their "relative abundance" due to increasing temperature and acidity (Marinov).  A decrease in the primary source for marine food webs can lead to a decrease in the overall biomass of marine organisms because "studies show that when phytoplankton populations suffer, so do other species in the surrounding area" (Provencher).  In fact, "climate change is expected to influence marine ecosystems throughout the world and these changes are expected to negatively influence fisheries" (Zhang).  "No fish means no fishing companies," which can have negative economic impacts on many countries (Earle).  Not only will a decline in fishing industries have a negative economic impact but also a negative societal impact because, "fish is a cornerstone of food security for many countries and provides 50-90% of dietary animal protein for rural areas" (Bell).  Ocean warming and acidification also lead to the depletion of glaciers, which may create negative infrastructural impacts due to sea level rise, so the coasts of many countries will change in the future.  The depletion of glaciers can lead to changes in ocean circulation patterns due to an increase in cold fresh water.  A change in thermohaline circulation, or deep ocean circulation, can drastically change land temperatures and weather patterns (Feely).  In order to protect the oceans the United States should sign the Kyoto Protocol and become fully involved in the UNFCCC.  This paper will explain how emission cuts, sustainable management, and education -- the three major parts of the UNFCCC and the Kyoto Protocol -- will help the ocean and this action is the least the United States government can do to improve a dire situation given how problematic the George W. Bush Administration was in ignoring this issue. 

The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change or UNFCCC was fully developed in 1995 to adequately address climate change, it's first step being the Kyoto Protocol.  The Kyoto Protocol is an international treaty developed in 1997, which has an "ultimate objective of reducing or stabilizing the atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases by legally binding emission targets for industrialized countries"(West). Before the Kyoto Protocol could take effect two conditions had to be met.  First, at least 55 countries had to ratify it and second, the ratifying countries had to represent 55 percent of the world's total carbon emissions.  Each party or country involved in the Protocol is required to report information on their emissions and the steps they are taking to cut back.  The parties involved have also agreed to promote the use of sustainable technologies and renewable energy sources such as solar power or wind power.  The wealthier countries involved have also agreed to aid in the transfer of those technologies to developing countries.  The first wave of the Kyoto Protocol had a goal to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 5.2 percent below the concentrations present in 1990 (West).  Industrialized countries have more specific emission reduction targets as they must place restrictions on the biggest business polluters and manage public transportation.  Overall these emission targets will help to reduce greenhouse gas concentrations.

If there were a significant cut in carbon and other greenhouse gas emissions there would also be a significant decrease in the amount of carbon absorbed by the oceans.  Through wave action and other chemical and physical processes almost "30% of the anthropogenic CO2 released into the atmosphere is absorbed by the oceans" (Feely).  Anthropogenic CO2 involves human activities producing carbon emissions such as burning fossil fuels.  "Before the Industrial Revolution the percentage of CO2 absorbed by the oceans was much higher" (Monroe).  Monroe suggests that over time the oceans have been taking up more and more carbon emissions making it harder for anymore to be absorbed.  As the concentrations of carbon in the ocean increases, "through a series of reactions the pH of the ocean is declining resulting in warmer temperatures" (Feely).  A lower pH and warmer temperatures have negative impacts on marine ecosystems and organisms (Provencher).

Sustainable management of ecosystems, plantations, and endangered species is a part of national programs implemented by the UNFCCC.  The Convention recognizes that "eliminating deforestation, forest degradation, and improving agriculture can play in mitigating climate change" (Thompson).  Managing ecosystems requires meeting multiple demands so there are trade-offs and synergies.  Ecosystem services can reduce the impact of climate change on people.  For example, "enhancing green space in cities can prevent health risks and frequent heat waves" (Thompson).  Also, the "conversion of forests, such as planting species that enhance resilience to climate extremes and promote biodiversity, can help to adapt to climate change" (Thompson).  It is also important to focus on agriculture.  For example, if plantations are not planned or designed well, there could an increase risk to climatic extremes or high water demand.  The parties involved in the Convention must also determine the priority areas in their country for increased biodiversity and ecosystem management because the needed services vary from location to location and country to country.  Thompson explain that certain areas have a higher need for species conservation where as other areas may have a higher need for soil retention or implanting green space.  Once those areas are decided upon and their needs are known the next step is choosing the right management services, although the appropriate management activities can be hard to agree upon as resource needs and biodiversity can sometimes clash.  Although the global progress in addressing climate change is slow, the countries involved in UNFCCC have climate policies that include reducing emissions by using sustainable management, which helps in mitigating climate change.

Reducing deforestation will help reduce the concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere and in turn reduce the concentrations of carbon absorbed by the oceans.  As stated before, reducing carbon concentrations in the ocean will help to slow the effects of ocean acidification and rising temperatures.  Using sustainable practices in agriculture such as organic fertilizer will help reduce the amount of harmful chemicals running off into the oceans.  A reduction of harmful chemicals will lead to a reduction in harmful algal blooms and anoxic waters, which will increase the biodiversity and the health of many marine ecosystems.  Management of marine ecosystems and species diversity will also help improve the health of many regions of the ocean.  For example, sustainable fishing practices that take into account reproductive cycles and population dynamics of species can help improve biodiversity.  Unfortunately, the Cod industry and Bluefin tuna industry neglected to take those two factors into account, which resulted in the endangerment of those two species of fish. The collapse of the cod industry in 1992 was due to the fisheries not taking into account the reproductive cycles of cod, as many fish were caught during those cycles when the cod aggregated in surface waters for reproduction (Zhang).  The Bluefin tuna industry neglected to take into account population dynamics and the result is seen today, as Bluefin tuna is now an endangered species (Montaigne).  The collapse of these two industries had detrimental economic impacts resulting in economic impacts for the countries involved.  Without sustainable fishing practices trophic cascades can occur; when the largest species in a food chain becomes extinct, species in lower trophic levels can become extinct as well.  Trophic cascades are being seen today due to the over hunting of sharks as 16 million sharks are hunted per year (Montaigne).  The sustainable management of ecosystems, plantations, and endangered species implemented by the UNFCCC can help increase the health of marine ecosystems and prevent against climatic stressors.

The global education and public awareness of climate change and it's impacts is also a part of national programs implemented by UNFCCC.  In fact, this was a major focus during the first meeting held by UNFCCC in 1995 as the, "aim of the dialogues were to help seed the climate change issue into education and training programs around the globe to engage individuals and enable them to be part of the solution" (UN). Christiana Figueres, Executive Secretary of the UNFCCC said, "It is critical to include it in curricula, but it needs to be embedded in the DNA of today's very education concept. It is not just another course; it is about how everything else we study or do is affected by climate change" (UN).  She goes on to explain that climate change education should go far beyond the boundaries of school because climate change education is about equipping people for a life in a changing environment.  George Marshall, founder of the Climate Outreach Information Network said that, "communicating and educating about climate change needs to focus on peoples' emotional as well as intellectual nature because the academic messages from climate science are not getting through strongly enough" (UN).  He explains that humans tend to ignore what brings anxiety or uncertainty but they will act once they are moved by emotions that reach to their core values.  Participants in the UNFCCC climate education discussion decided upon five topics of interest to promote education in the best way possible.  The first topic was long-term approaches for climate change and focusing on adequate communication.  The second was implementing outdoor education so that individuals can connect with the natural world and feel more empathetic.  The third was using communication technologies for promoting climate change education such as creating education programs for the media.  The fourth was monitoring and reporting climate change education so that improvements could be made.  The last topic discussed was expanding education beyond school institutions and engaging whole communities in a multitude of ways.  The Convention also discussed training on the subject matter to proved the best education possible.  Overall the UNFCCC recognizes that global education of climate change is an important step in stemming the tide of climate change.

Education and public awareness is an important step in preventing climate change as well as protecting the ocean.  Many coastal schools have oceanography classes while most schools have environmental science classes, which explain how run off and carbon emissions effect the ocean.  Although many public school systems have resources to this education, it is important to expand this to other communities.  The expansion of climate and ocean education beyond the classroom needs to create an emotional impact on the individuals involved to be able to enable action.  This emotional impact could come from educating others on how certain marine organisms are severely suffering from climate change and the ramifications of those disruptions.  For example, corals are expelling their symbiotic phytoplankton from their tissues resulting in coral bleaching and mortality.  Coral reefs are of the most diverse ecosystems in the world and represent one fourth of marine biomass, so the loss of these habitats due to bleaching could eventually result in the loss of many marine species (Hobbs).  Marine fish are also affected by ocean acidification.  In a study done by Munday it was found that many tropical fish experience erosion of their neurosensory systems so they have a higher risk of predation because they can not distinguish predator noises or smells in waters with a lower pH.  In a study done my Marinov, it is mentioned that many phytoplankton communities are declining especially communities that form calcium carbonate shells because with more acidic oceans the shells of these organisms start to dissolve.  Many people don't know that every other breath we take is oxygen produced by phytoplankton so the decline in these communities could result in the decline of many other communities land or ocean (Provencher).  Informing others of this information is important because it could make an emotional impact resulting in short term and long term preventative actions.  Short term preventative actions could include using organic fertilizer, recycling, sustainable fishing practices, or even just avoiding touching coral reefs as these ecosystems are quite sensitive.  Long term preventative actions could be taken by political figures and may include passing certain policies, being apart of organizations such as UNFCCC or ratifying treaties such as the Kyoto Protocol.

The United States has failed to take long term preventative actions in the past, specifically during the Bush administration.  During this administration the UNFCCC was newly developed and Kyoto Protocol was a newly formed treaty.  Bush stated that the Kyoto Protocol would have wrecked the United States economy; in Bush's eyes weapons of mass destruction and oil were more important than this critical global issue.  If the United States did ratify the Kyoto Protocol there would be a significant decrease is global greenhouse gases as the United States is the top pollution producer (Soytas).  Present day there are still political figures that are inhibiting forms of climate change prevention such as Ted Cruz who is the chair of the Senate subcommittee for NASA, which is conjunction with NOAA (Mooney).  Cruz believes that much of the data and announcements made by NASA and NOAA on climate change are false and that the resources of NASA should go towards something more "productive" (Mooney).  There are many republicans who still do not believe in climate change shown by the recent debates (Zorn).  Fortunately there has been some progress in the United States participation in climate change shown by the presence of Obama at the Paris Convention in 2015.  There may have been some progress for the United States but there is still a need for much more participation from a country that contributes the largest amount of pollution and greenhouse gases in the prevention of this global issue.

Global climate change is a critical issue that is already starting to effect surrounding terrestrial and marine ecosystems.  Many of the terrestrial problems we are facing with climate change have started with the ocean.  The changes in marine biodiversity and species abundance due to warmer temperatures and ocean acidification can have major economic impacts on fisheries and even coastal touristic agencies.  The depletion of glaciers due to warmer temperatures can cause negative infrastructural impacts to coastal cities as sea level rise is already being seen.  The depletion of glaciers can also cause, through a series of physical processes, changes in weather patterns.  The ocean effects us greatly on land so it is important to start preventative actions, such as emission cuts, ecosystem management, and education, to prevent climate change impacts on the ocean and in turn the land.  The UNFCCC is a global organization that has started these preventative actions.  The Kyoto Protocol was one of the first actions implemented by this organization, but unfortunately the United States declined ratification.  The United States is one of the largest contributors to global greenhouse gasses and pollution so it would only make sense for this country to contribute to long-term preventative actions starting with ratifying the Kyoto Protocol.

