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Speak Up for the Ocean at Climate Negotiations

This winter, the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP21) in Paris will feature one of the largest gatherings of world leaders to ever address global warming. The stage is set for all United Nations member states to come together and create an international agreement on the climate with the goal of keeping warming below 2 degrees Celsius.
Yet the largest factor in our climate cycle isn’t on the COP21 agenda: the ocean.
The ocean is a massive carbon sink that has absorbed nearly half of all human-produced CO2 since the Industrial Revolution. Climate experts warn that the ocean’s ability to absorb so much CO2 may soon hit a tipping point, with the ocean becoming saturated and thus unable to keep this greenhouse gas from rapidly accumulating in the atmosphere, acidifying the sea and throwing climate change into overdrive.…

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Global Coral Bleaching Event puts Reefs at Risk

By Courtney Mattison

Researchers announced this month that a massive global coral bleaching event is jeopardizing the health of coral reefs around the world, and the crisis is still heating up. A triple threat of climate change, El Niño and a climate change-induced “warm blob” in the Pacific is causing the ocean to reach unusually high temperatures, stressing the coral animals that build reefs—the cradles of tropical marine life—and causing them to bleach, a stress response that often causes corals to starve, sicken and die. Researchers from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) have gathered evidence suggesting that about 12% of reefs worldwide have already bleached in the last year, and predict that nearly half of those affected (over 12,000 square kilometers, or over 5% of reefs) could disappear forever.…

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Protect the Grand Canyons of the Ocean

By Courtney Mattison

Hidden below the surface of Alaska’s icy waters lie the world’s largest underwater canyons, both more massive than America’s Grand Canyon. Home to orcas, walrus and fur seals, albatross and kittiwakes, king crab, squid, salmon and coldwater corals, brittle stars and sponges, the continental slope and canyons of the Bering Sea (known as the Bering Sea “Green Belt”) are home to an immense diversity of wildlife. Spanning more than 770,000 square miles between Western Alaska and Russia’s Siberian coast, the Bering Sea is an area of immense ecological value is also the source of more than half of the seafood caught in the United States and is subject to devastating commercial fishing tactics. This week, Mission Blue is launching a petition to urge Alaska’s North Pacific Fishery Management Council to protect the Bering Sea canyons and Green Belt.…

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World Parks Congress in Australia Unites Global Ocean Leaders

By Courtney Mattison
On a warm summer afternoon in Australia last Wednesday, thousands of environmental researchers, advocates, policy makers and business leaders gathered in a great hall within the Sydney Olympic Park for the opening ceremonies of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) World Parks Congress. Delegates from around the globe watched as world-class acrobats flew through the air and dancers in vibrant costumes portrayed a story about inspiring future generations to protect the environment. Aboriginal performances and protocols highlighted the rich cultural context of the host country of this meeting, which only comes around once a decade and is held in a different country each time.
IUCN President Mr. Zhang Xinsheng, Australian federal and state environmental ministers and Nelson Mandela’s grandson addressed the congress.…

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Act Now to Protect the High Seas with TakePart & Mission Blue!

Here at Mission Blue we are thrilled to be teaming up with TakePart — “a digital news & lifestyle magazine and social action platform for the conscious consumer” — to raise awareness for the ocean! 
TakePart enables people like you to change the world by broadcasting inspiring content and connecting it to actions you can take to make a difference. Over the coming months, TakePart will be spreading the word about ways you can help save the ocean alongside Mission Blue!
To start off, you can get involved by signing this Mission Blue petition to help protect the High Seas! As the IUCN World Parks Congress leads into  international meetings at the United Nations this winter, we face an exceptional opportunity to urge policymakers to create legal protections for the High Seas – nearly half of our planet – which are currently about as lawless as the wild west.…

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