30-Aug-2022: Impact of Climate Change on Oceans

The Ministry of Earth Sciences recently published an assessment report on the climate change impact on the Indian region, which includes impact of climate change on oceans.

Based on scientific studies and the recent climate assessment report of the Ministry of Earth Sciences, the tropical Indian Ocean is warming rapidly over the recent decades. The average basin-wide sea surface temperature (SST) is warming at a rate of 0.15 oC/decade during 1951-2015. During the same period, globally averaged SST warmed at a rate of ~0.11 oC. Owing to this rapid warming, the sea level in the Indian Ocean was observed to be rising at a rate of 1.06-1.75 mm/year during the last century (1874–2004) and ~3.3 mm/year in the recent decades (1993-2015), which is in a similar range of the global mean sea level rise.

Further, National Centre for Coastal Research (NCCR), an attached office of MoES, is collecting the real-time information on coastal water quality by deploying water quality buoys at 10m water depth in coastal waters. NCCR is also undertaking research activities in quantifying litter (mainly meso, macro and microplastics) in the beach, in the water column and sediment on the sea floor. An increase in the abundance of microplastics is observed along the east coast during the monsoon. The stations nearer to the river mouth had higher numbers of microplastics concentrations. The Beach litter survey revealed that the maximum accumulation occurs in the backshore than in the intertidal zone. Moreover, Urban beaches have higher accumulation rates than rural beaches. Under Beach Clean-up program/activity, it was found that the majority of the waste composition was contributed by single use plastics.

 No such report has been released by the recent UN Conference that the world's seas are in crisis.

12-Jun-2019: Underwater forests in the Arctic are expanding with climate change

Lush underwater forests of large brown seaweeds (kelps) are particularly striking in the Arctic, especially in contrast to the land where ice scour (scraping of sea ice against the sea floor) and harsh climates leave the ground barren with little vegetation.

Kelp forests have been observed throughout the Arctic by Inuit, researchers and polar explorers. The Canadian Arctic alone represents 10% of the world’s coastlines, but we know little of the hidden kelp forests there.

Today, climate change is altering marine habitats such as kelp forests on a global scale. In western Australia, eastern Canada, southern Europe, northern California and eastern United States, kelps are disappearing due to warming temperatures. In other areas, kelps are being heavily over-grazed by sea urchins. Coastal conditions in the Arctic are changing dramatically and the region is warming faster than the rest of the world, but these changes could actually be good for kelp.

Proliferation of kelps in the Arctic: Kelps currently occur on rocky coasts throughout the Arctic. The longest kelp recorded in the Arctic in Canada was 15 metres, and the deepest was found at 60-metre depth (Disko Bay, Greenland). Many find it surprising that marine plants can grow so well in harsh Arctic environments.

Kelps have adapted to the severe conditions. These cool water species have special strategies to survive freezing temperatures and long periods of darkness, and even grow under sea ice. In regions with cold, nutrient-rich water, they can attain some of the highest rates of primary production of any natural ecosystem on Earth.

Kelps function underwater in the same way trees do on land. They create habitat and modify the physical environment by shading light and softening waves. The underwater forests that Kelps create are used by many animals for shelter and food. More than 350 different species – up to 100,000 small invertebrates – can live on a single kelp plant, and many fish, birds and mammals depend on the whole forest. Kelp forests also help protect coastlines by decreasing the power of waves during storms and reducing coastal erosion. A lot of kelp break off or are dislodged from the rock they attach to and end up in nearby habitats where they fuel deep food webs.

As waters warm and sea ice retreats, more light will reach the seafloor, which will benefit marine plants. Researchers predict a northern shift of kelp forests as ice retreats. Genetic evidence reveals that most kelps reinvaded the Arctic from the Atlantic Ocean quite recently (approximately 8,000 years ago, following the last Ice Age). As a result, most kelps in the Arctic are living in waters colder than their optimal temperature. Ocean warming will also move conditions closer to temperatures of maximum growth, and could increase the productivity of these habitats.

However, other changes are happening in the Arctic that complicate this picture. In Canada, Alaska, Greenland, Norway and Siberia, permafrost soils that have been frozen for thousands of years are receding by half a metre per year. Thawing permafrost and crumbling Arctic coasts are dumping sediments into coastal waters at alarming rates, which blocks light and could limit plant growth. The run-off from melting glaciers will also lower salinity and increase turbidity, which impacts young kelp.

The Canadian Arctic is the longest Arctic coastline in the world. The earliest scientific records of kelp in the Arctic are from Canada during expeditions in search of the Northwest Passage. In Hudson Bay and eastern Canada, kelp forests have been scientifically documented between Ellesmere Island and Labrador, and along coasts in Lancaster Sound, Ungava Bay, Hudson Bay, Baffin Bay and Resolute Bay.

In the northwestern Canadian Arctic, lack of rock substrate and a harsher climate support smaller, fragmented kelp forests. However, baseline measures of the extent of kelp communities are missing in many areas. Unfortunately, lack of information has already made it difficult to tell how kelp forests are changing.

Today, a number of researchers in Canada have partnered with northern communities and organisations to study kelp in the Arctic. The five-year Arctic Kelp Project, for example, explores future changes and opportunities these ecosystems could provide. At the same time new technology (underwater lasers) is being developed in collaboration with Inuit fishers to map kelp forests in the Arctic. This is important, because knowledge on Arctic kelp forests could help northern communities and societies anticipate and benefit from these valuable changing ecosystems.

Kelp forests throughout the world play an important role in coastal economies, supporting a broad range of tourism, recreational and commercial activities. Kelp is making its way onto the plates of North Americans, and the kelp aquaculture industry is growing at a rate of seven per cent per year for the last 20 years globally (kelp is a coveted food source in many countries, full of potassium, iron, calcium, fibre and iodine). In the Arctic, Inuit traditionally use kelp as food and wild harvest numerous species.

Arctic kelp forests provide a key example of the diverse responses to climate change. Predictive models and experiments suggest that Arctic coasts are in line to become one of the most impacted environments in the world under changing climate. Yet the possible expansion of kelp forests should provide new habitats for fish and other marine organisms, and enhance a suite of valuable ecosystem services along Arctic coastlines.

This expanding resource may provide needed income to northern communities whose livelihoods are threatened by climate change and other impacts. Anticipating these changes and understanding these new ecosystems will be a key priority for Arctic nations. Just because you cannot see the forests growing in the Arctic does not mean we should not appreciate them and recognise the crucial role they play in the ocean.

28-Jul-2022: Problem of Marine Pollution

The Governments of India, Singapore, and Australia jointly organized an online EAS Marine Plastic Debris workshop on 14th and 15th February 2022. About 100 participants from thirteen countries participated in the workshop and deliberated on four different themes:

• The magnitude of the marine litter problem: monitoring programs and research on plastic debris in the Indo-Pacific Region.
• Best practices, novel approaches, and solutions to prevent plastic pollution.
• Polymers and plastics: technology and innovations.
• Opportunities for regional collaboration to remediate or stop plastic pollution.

Marine Litter is monitored in coastal water, sediment, beach, and biota and analyzed for micro/ meso/ macro plastics pollution. An increase in the abundance of microplastics observed along the east coast during the monsoon with relatively higher concentrations at river mouth. Urban beaches have higher accumulation rates than rural beaches. Under the pan India coastal monitoring, beach clean-up activities at regular intervals to assess the marine litter from 2018-2022, it was found that the majority of the waste with more than 50% composition was contributed by Single-Use Plastics (SUPs).

Ministry of Earth Sciences through its attached office National Centre for Coastal Research (NCCR) has initiated monitoring of temporal and spatial distribution of marine litter and plastic debris along the Indian coasts and adjacent seas. The research so far indicates that plastic debris is spread along entire water column and sediment and high quantities are noticed during monsoon due to its spread into coastal water through creeks/rivers/estuaries by rainwater.

Low cost floating debris traps at small river mouths, creeks and canals to prevent the inflow of the plastic to the sea was installed and trapping floating debris in the harbour and port areas can be deployed to trap the floating plastics and debris.

The participants agreed that litter pollution being transboundary, collaborative action plans are important for combating this menace. The following suggestions were given:

• Ban on single-use plastic, behavioural changes in plastic use
• Technology can track or stop plastic from entering our oceans
• Initiate activities at a local level, regional level, national and international level.
• Local placed-based solutions to tackle the issues
• Responsibility needs to extend high up in the supply chain and change in behaviour to the plastic used in packaging by brands/producers.
• Strengthening baseline information through monitoring programs and research to inform policymakers
• Sharing of plastic monitoring data which helps to build a dataset to countermeasure and reduce ocean plastics
• Identify and develop technologies for eco-friendly alternatives to plastic
• Enforcement of policy and regulation
• Enhancement of waste management system.
• Enhancing the dialogue between countries
• Technology that innovates the repurposing, recycling, and reuse of plastic waste Citizen science, education, community program, and outreach

27-Jul-2022: Marine Pollution

National Centre for Coastal Research (NCCR), an attached office of MoES, is collecting the real-time information on coastal water quality by deploying water quality buoys at 10m water depth in coastal waters. The collected data is shared with the State Pollution Control Boards.

The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) has instructed all the coastal State Pollution Control Boards (SPCBs) and the Pollution Control Committees (PCCs) of the Union Territories for developing an action plan for prevention of coastal pollution. NCCR, MoES is assisting SPCBs and PCCs in this exercise.

NCCR has taken up several initiatives to augment the scientific and research capabilities.

1. For continuous water quality observations, a network of water quality buoys is being deployed along the coast.
2. Along with the traditional methods of identification and analysis of biological samples, advanced techniques like use of molecular tools are being employed.
3. Collaborations with leading oceanography institutes of the world (JAMSTEC, Japan; CeFAS, United Kingdom; NIVA, Norway)
4. New research programs like Marine Spatial Planning, Marine Litter Monitoring, Coastal Flooding have been initiated.

The following measures are being implemented:

1. Preparation of action plans by the coastal states and Union Territories to reduce marine pollution.
2. Deployment of water quality buoys to get real-time information on coastal water quality.
3. Scientific exercise has been taken up to study the marine outfalls along the Indian coast to check the compliance in respect to existing standards and update the standards to prevent deterioration of coastal waters. Clean coast campaigns are taken up regularly to create awareness among the public and stakeholders to keep the beaches and coastal areas clean.

15-Feb-2022: India, Australia, and Singapore come together to address marine pollution with a focus on plastic debris

The Government of India, in partnership with the Government of Australia and the Government of Singapore, conducted an international workshop on combating marine pollution focusing on marine plastic debris on February 14-15, 2022. The workshop, held virtually, bought together the world’s leading experts, scientists, government officials with policy expertise, and representatives from industry, innovation and informal sectors. It aimed to discuss research interventions toward monitoring and assessing marine litter and plausible sustainable solutions to address the global marine plastic pollution issue.

The workshop had four major sessions; the magnitude of the marine litter problem-monitoring program and research on plastic debris in the Indo-Pacific Region; best practices and technologies; solutions to prevent plastic pollution; and polymers and plastics: technology and innovations and opportunities for regional collaboration to remediate or stop plastic pollution. The sessions involved panel discussions and interactive break-out sessions to encourage discussion amongst participants from East Asia Summit countries.

The East Asia Summit (EAS) is the premier forum for discussions on important strategic issues in the Indo-Pacific and a leading confidence-building mechanism. Since its inception in 2005, the EAS has been advocating regional peace, security, closer regional cooperation and prosperity of the Asia-Pacific and the Indian Ocean region. The EAS is uniquely placed to share expertise and lessons learned between regions and sub-regions faced with interlinked and similar challenges to develop sustainable transboundary solutions. EAS countries recognise the coastal and marine plastic pollution challenge. The Hon’ble Prime Minister of India, Shri Narendra Modi, had announced the agenda of promoting maritime cooperation in the wider Indo-Pacific region at the 14th EAS held in Bangkok in November 2019. India, Singapore, and Australia are committed to implementing the EAS decisions.

This workshop provided an impetus to EAS countries for exploring and informing each other about the challenges, questions, and solutions to marine litter – especially plastic research, use, design, disposal, recycling, and future collaborations for a plastic-free and healthy ocean for sustainable development through knowledge partners – the National Centre for Coastal Research (NCCR), Chennai, an attached office of Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES), the Government of Singapore and the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, Australia. Dr M Ravichandran, Secretary, Ministry of Earth Sciences, Government of India, delivered the keynote address at the workshop. He suggested considering the application of technological tools such as remote sensing, artificial intelligence and machine learning to map the distribution of marine plastics and developing models to understand the dynamics of plastics in the Indian ocean. He also emphasized that a well-designed and tailor-made management strategy considering regional distinctiveness will significantly reduce plastics in the environment.