AI Earth Summit — Healthy Oceans
Our oceans are at the forefront of our climate crisis battle. They provide us with immeasurable protection and resources. They serve as a major sink for temperature and CO2 level increases, helping mitigate the effects; currently, oceans house a majority of Earth’s carbon and absorb an estimated 20–35% of anthropogenic (human caused) carbon emissions. These increased levels of CO2 is known as ocean acidification.
However, they aren’t immune to effects of these forces themselves. The oceans have been acting as a cushion for the effects of anthropogenic forces and climate change — absorbing 93% of the extra energy produced by the greenhouse warming effect — for so long that they now experience major changes in their very composition. Even with their vast capacity to absorb heat and carbon dioxide, oceans are noticeably warmer in 2017 than in 2000. More than 90% of Earth’s warming since 1950 occurred in oceans and shows no signs of slowing down. With this level of change, it is no surprise that the oceanic wildlife is being adversely affected.
This article, AI Earth — Healthy Oceans, is the perfect intersection of the climate change and biodiversity articles that came before it. To highlight this, we can look under the surface of our oceans. Here dwells an estimated 50–80% of all life on Earth. A quarter of this biodiversity lives in coral reefs, despite reefs covering less than one percent of the ocean floor. However, with ocean acidification and rising temperatures, 60% of coral reef are at risk of collapse. The loss of the reefs isn’t an isolated tragedy for nature — as we discussed in the previous article about biodiversity, losing the reefs brings many other implications with it.
The coral reefs are only a small portion of the problem. As coral reefs die off and fish populations plummet, people who depend on the ocean are at risk of losing their only source of income. Approximately half of the world population lives within 60 miles of the coast, three-billion of which rely on fish as a part of their diet, and 520-million who rely on the fishing industry as a primary source of income. As much as $375-billion in revenue is set to be lost for the local communities.
The ocean is dying, or at least changing beyond recognition, and it has the potential to change all of our lives. The threats facing our oceans today — coral bleaching, fish migration, drowning wetlands, ocean acidification, pollution — are far too numerous to outline in my article today and have been covered in the sources linked here.
Instead, I will paint you a picture: an idyllic sunset, shimmering clear blue water, and white fluffy sands. Such a picturesque scene is commonplace for the Golden coast of California. Yet these clear waters tell a tragic tale of loss. Like any ecosystem on Earth, oceans are a complex series of chain reactions, and our lovely, sparkly, clear water highlights a deficit. Cloudy gray water signifies the presence of more living organisms and higher nutrients. This includes oxygen-producing phytoplankton. Yet, we are watching this life-rich ecosystem slowly turn into a desert. Once teeming with life, coastlines are now becoming barren.
Low oxygen sites have increased tenfold in the past 70 years, and it is spreading. California beaches stand to lose more than blooms of nutrient-rich phytoplankton: marine mammals, seabirds, and fish are starving as a result. We now look back at our picturesque moment and notice the lack of fish along the reefs, birds circling the sky, and sea lions basking in the sun.
The ocean is collapsing across the world. The implications for us are clear: as we currently exploit the ocean’s resources, we not only destroy their diversity, but also their ability to meet our most basic needs. If I have communicated anything in my previous articles, I hope it’s that it’s not too late — we can still make a difference. So much is still unknown about the oceans, but we do know they have an incredible resilience about them. Projects, including one from Ocean Data Alliance, are already using artificial intelligence (AI) to track oceanic events, including coral bleaching, loss of oxygen, and pollution. The breakout sessions at the AI Earth Summit will expand the possibilities that technology holds for saving our oceans.
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Chloe Grubb is a senior in Robotics at Olin College of Engineering who has focused her time in user-centered (UX) design. She hopes to bridge the gap between engineering and design to create impactful experiences for users. Over the past four years, she has dedicated these skills to addressing the need for increased environmental awareness. Spearheading a Climate Action semester at her school and piloting a start-up, Drina, to allow users to make environmentally conscious decisions highlights her desire to utilize UX design to engage and excite people in the changes that need to happen for environmental stability. Being a contributor to AI Earth Summit is the next step in her environmental action involvement.
