Climate Change Threatens $2 Trillion 'Blue Economy'
An eroding coast on the southern shore of Mobile Bay, Alabama. As the shoreline recedes, trees collapse, blocking access to the sandy beach by marine life. Credit: NASA/University of Alabama in Huntsville/Maury Estes Earth observations like those from NASA satellites are critical to understanding the threats of climate change to Earth’s ocean, according to a recent article in Oceanography led by the Ecological Forecasting program area. The article, titled Integrating Biology into Ocean Observing Infrastructure: Society Depends on It , is featured in a special observing supplement to the journal. Humanity’s dependence on the ocean affects every sector of life: trade and tourism, pharmaceuticals, research, energy, and more. The study authors noted that the value of this “blue economy” totals roughly $2 trillion every year, and while over 90% of Earth’s habitable space is contained in the sea, the habitats within it are rapidly changing. Sea surface temperatures have risen about 0.11 deg