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Fleming LE, Landrigan PJ, Ashford OS, Whitman EM, Swift A, Gerwick WH, Heymans JJ, Hicks CC, Morrissey K, White MP, Alcantara-Creencia L, Alexander KA, Astell-Burt T, Berlinck RGS, Cohen PJ, Hixson R, Islam MM, Iwasaki A, Praptiwi RA, Raps H, Remy JY, Sowman G, Ternon E, Thiele T, Thilsted SH, Uku J, Ockenden S, Kumar P. Enhancing Human Health and Wellbeing through Sustainably and Equitably Unlocking a Healthy Ocean's Potential. Ann Glob Health 2024; 90:41. [PMID: 39005643 PMCID: PMC11243763 DOI: 10.5334/aogh.4471] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/04/2024] [Accepted: 05/13/2024] [Indexed: 07/16/2024] Open
Abstract
A healthy ocean is essential for human health, and yet the links between the ocean and human health are often overlooked. By providing new medicines, technologies, energy, foods, recreation, and inspiration, the ocean has the potential to enhance human health and wellbeing. However, climate change, pollution, biodiversity loss, and inequity threaten both ocean and human health. Sustainable realisation of the ocean's health benefits will require overcoming these challenges through equitable partnerships, enforcement of laws and treaties, robust monitoring, and use of metrics that assess both the ocean's natural capital and human wellbeing. Achieving this will require an explicit focus on human rights, equity, sustainability, and social justice. In addition to highlighting the potential unique role of the healthcare sector, we offer science-based recommendations to protect both ocean health and human health, and we highlight the unique potential of the healthcare sector tolead this effort.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lora E Fleming
- European Centre for Environment and Human Health of the University of Exeter Medical School, Cornwall, UK
| | - Philip J Landrigan
- Instituto de Quimica de Sao Carlos, Universidade de Sao Paulo, Sao Carlos, SP, Brazil
| | | | - Ella M Whitman
- Program for Global Public Health and the Common Good, Boston College, Boston, Massachusetts, USA and the Centre Scientifique de Monaco, Monaco
| | - Amy Swift
- Ocean Program, at World Resources Institute, London, UK
| | - William H Gerwick
- Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of California San Diego, San Diego, US
| | | | | | - Karyn Morrissey
- Department of Technology, Management and Economics, Technical University of Denmark, Denmark
| | | | - Lota Alcantara-Creencia
- College of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, Western Philippines University, Palawan, Philippines
| | - Karen A Alexander
- Marine Governance and Blue Economy at Heriot-Watt University, Orkney, UK
| | - Thomas Astell-Burt
- School of Architecture, Design and Planning, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia
| | - Roberto G S Berlinck
- Instituto de Quimica de Sao Carlos, Universidade de Sao Paulo, Sao Carlos, SP, Brazil
| | - Philippa J Cohen
- Small-Scale Fisheries Research Program World Fish, Penang, Malaysia
| | - Richard Hixson
- Critical Care, County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust, Darlington, UK
| | - Mohammad Mahmudul Islam
- Department of Coastal and Marine Fisheries, Sylhet Agricultural University, Sylhet, Bangladesh
| | - Arihiro Iwasaki
- Department of Applied Chemistry, Faculty of Science and Engineering, Chuo University, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Radisti A Praptiwi
- Research Center for Ecology and Ethnobiology, National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN), Jakarta, Indonesia
| | | | - Jan Yves Remy
- Shridath Ramphal Centre, the University of the West Indies, St. Lucia/Barbados
| | - Georgina Sowman
- Advanced Wellbeing Research Centre, Sheffield Hallam University, Sheffield, UK
| | - Eva Ternon
- Laboratoire d'Océanographie de Villefranche at Sorbonne Université, Paris, France
| | - Torsten Thiele
- Research Institute for Sustainability - Helmholtz Centre Potsdam (RIFS), Potsdam, Germany
| | - Shakuntala H Thilsted
- Nutrition, Health and Food Security Impact Area Platform Worldfish CGIAR, Penang, Malaysia
| | - Jacqueline Uku
- Kenya Marine and Fisheries Research Institute, Mombasa, Kenya
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Piontek J, Hassenrück C, Zäncker B, Jürgens K. Environmental control and metabolic strategies of organic-matter-responsive bacterioplankton in the Weddell Sea (Antarctica). Environ Microbiol 2024; 26:e16675. [PMID: 39022885 DOI: 10.1111/1462-2920.16675] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/06/2024] [Accepted: 06/29/2024] [Indexed: 07/20/2024]
Abstract
Heterotrophic microbial communities play a significant role in driving carbon fluxes in marine ecosystems. Despite their importance, these communities remain understudied in remote polar oceans, which are known for their substantial contribution to the biological drawdown of atmospheric carbon dioxide. Our research focused on understanding the environmental factors and genetic makeup of key bacterial players involved in carbon remineralization in the Weddell Sea, including its coastal polynyas. Our experiments demonstrated that the combination of labile organic matter supply and temperature increase synergistically boosted bacterial growth. This suggests that, besides low seawater temperature, carbon limitation also hinders heterotrophic bacterial activity. Through the analysis of metagenome-assembled genomes, we discovered distinct genomic adaptation strategies in Bacteroidia and Gammaproteobacteria, both of which respond to organic matter. Both natural phytoplankton blooms and experimental addition of organic matter favoured Bacteroidia, which possess a large number of gene copies and a wide range of functional membrane transporters, glycoside hydrolases, and aminopeptidases. In contrast, the genomes of organic-matter-responsive Gammaproteobacteria were characterized by high densities of transcriptional regulators and transporters. Our findings suggest that bacterioplankton in the Weddell Sea, which respond to organic matter, employ metabolic strategies similar to those of their counterparts in temperate oceans. These strategies enable efficient growth at extremely low seawater temperatures, provided that organic carbon limitation is alleviated.
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Weis J, Chase Z, Schallenberg C, Strutton PG, Bowie AR, Fiddes SL. One-third of Southern Ocean productivity is supported by dust deposition. Nature 2024; 629:603-608. [PMID: 38750234 DOI: 10.1038/s41586-024-07366-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/17/2023] [Accepted: 03/28/2024] [Indexed: 05/18/2024]
Abstract
Natural iron fertilization of the Southern Ocean by windblown dust has been suggested to enhance biological productivity and modulate the climate1-3. Yet, this process has never been quantified across the Southern Ocean and at annual timescales4,5. Here we combined 11 years of nitrate observations from autonomous biogeochemical ocean profiling floats with a Southern Hemisphere dust simulation to empirically derive the relationship between dust-iron deposition and annual net community production (ANCP) in the iron-limited Southern Ocean. Using this relationship, we determined the biological response to dust-iron in the pelagic perennially ice-free Southern Ocean at present and during the last glacial maximum (LGM). We estimate that dust-iron now supports 33% ± 15% of Southern Ocean ANCP. During the LGM, when dust deposition was 5-40-fold higher than today, the contribution of dust to Southern Ocean ANCP was much greater, estimated at 64% ± 13%. We provide quantitative evidence of basin-wide dust-iron fertilization of the Southern Ocean and the potential magnitude of its impact on glacial-interglacial timescales, supporting the idea of the important role of dust in the global carbon cycle and climate6-8.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jakob Weis
- Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies (IMAS), University of Tasmania, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia.
- Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Climate Extremes (CLEX), University of Tasmania, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia.
| | - Zanna Chase
- Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies (IMAS), University of Tasmania, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia
- Australian Research Council Centre for Excellence in Antarctic Science (ACEAS), University of Tasmania, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia
| | - Christina Schallenberg
- Australian Antarctic Program Partnership (AAPP), University of Tasmania, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia
- Environment, CSIRO, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia
| | - Peter G Strutton
- Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies (IMAS), University of Tasmania, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia
- Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Climate Extremes (CLEX), University of Tasmania, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia
- Australian Research Council Centre for Excellence in Antarctic Science (ACEAS), University of Tasmania, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia
| | - Andrew R Bowie
- Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies (IMAS), University of Tasmania, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia
- Australian Antarctic Program Partnership (AAPP), University of Tasmania, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia
| | - Sonya L Fiddes
- Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies (IMAS), University of Tasmania, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia
- Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Climate Extremes (CLEX), University of Tasmania, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia
- Australian Antarctic Program Partnership (AAPP), University of Tasmania, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia
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Wang WL, Fu W, Le Moigne FAC, Letscher RT, Liu Y, Tang JM, Primeau FW. Biological carbon pump estimate based on multidecadal hydrographic data. Nature 2023; 624:579-585. [PMID: 38057667 PMCID: PMC10733149 DOI: 10.1038/s41586-023-06772-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/28/2022] [Accepted: 10/20/2023] [Indexed: 12/08/2023]
Abstract
The transfer of photosynthetically produced organic carbon from surface to mesopelagic waters draws carbon dioxide from the atmosphere1. However, current observation-based estimates disagree on the strength of this biological carbon pump (BCP)2. Earth system models (ESMs) also exhibit a large spread of BCP estimates, indicating limited representations of the known carbon export pathways3. Here we use several decades of hydrographic observations to produce a top-down estimate of the strength of the BCP with an inverse biogeochemical model that implicitly accounts for all known export pathways. Our estimate of total organic carbon (TOC) export at 73.4 m (model euphotic zone depth) is 15.00 ± 1.12 Pg C year-1, with only two-thirds reaching 100 m depth owing to rapid remineralization of organic matter in the upper water column. Partitioned by sequestration time below the euphotic zone, τ, the globally integrated organic carbon production rate with τ > 3 months is 11.09 ± 1.02 Pg C year-1, dropping to 8.25 ± 0.30 Pg C year-1 for τ > 1 year, with 81% contributed by the non-advective-diffusive vertical flux owing to sinking particles and vertically migrating zooplankton. Nevertheless, export of organic carbon by mixing and other fluid transport of dissolved matter and suspended particles remains regionally important for meeting the respiratory carbon demand. Furthermore, the temperature dependence of the sequestration efficiency inferred from our inversion suggests that future global warming may intensify the recycling of organic matter in the upper ocean, potentially weakening the BCP.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wei-Lei Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Marine Environmental Science, College of Ocean and Earth Sciences, Xiamen University, Xiamen, China.
| | - Weiwei Fu
- Department of Earth System Science, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA, USA
- Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Science, Fudan University, Shanghai, China
| | | | - Robert T Letscher
- Earth Sciences and Ocean Process Analysis Laboratory, University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH, USA
| | - Yi Liu
- Department of Earth System Science, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA, USA
- Department of Geosciences, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USA
| | - Jin-Ming Tang
- State Key Laboratory of Marine Environmental Science, College of Ocean and Earth Sciences, Xiamen University, Xiamen, China
| | - François W Primeau
- Department of Earth System Science, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA, USA.
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