Efforts to save the planet must start with the Antarctic

The author highlights the ecological importance of Antarctica and the Southern Ocean, noting that the region is facing threats from sea ice melt, industrial krill fishing, and invasive species. While the Antarctic Treaty established a precedent for multilateralism, current efforts to create new marine protected areas (MPAs) through the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) are stalled by a few nations. The Antarctica2020 group calls for the protection of over 7 million km2 of the Southern Ocean by 2020 to contribute to a global goal of 30% ocean protection by 2030.

• Antarctica is experiencing severe environmental degradation, including a tripling of sea ice melt over the last five years and a ten-fold increase in shipping traffic since the 1960s, which raises the risk of invasive species.
• The Southern Ocean ecosystem relies on microscopic algae and krill, and its currents regenerate waters that feed the global ocean.
• Despite an agreement to develop a network of marine protected areas (MPAs) by 2012, only two have been established: the South Orkney Islands in 2009 and the Ross Sea MPA in 2016.
• Three specific MPA proposals are currently stalled due to a lack of consensus among CCAMLR members: the East Antarctic (950,000 km2), the Weddell Sea (1.8 million km2), and the Antarctic Peninsula (450,000 km2).
• The Antarctica2020 group advocates for protecting over 7 million km2 of the Southern Ocean by 2020, supporting a broader scientific goal to increase global ocean protection to 30% by 2030.

APA

Earle, S. (2019). Efforts to save the planet must start with the Antarctic. World Economic Forum. https://www.weforum.org/stories/climate-action/efforts-to-save-the-planet-and-its-oceans-must-start-with-the-antarctic/

Chicago

Earle, Sylvia. Efforts to save the planet must start with the Antarctic. World Economic Forum, 2019. https://www.weforum.org/stories/climate-action/efforts-to-save-the-planet-and-its-oceans-must-start-with-the-antarctic/.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |last1=Earle |first1=Sylvia |title=Efforts to save the planet must start with the Antarctic |publisher=World Economic Forum |date=1 July 2019 |url=https://www.weforum.org/stories/climate-action/efforts-to-save-the-planet-and-its-oceans-must-start-with-the-antarctic/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{earle2019efforts, author = {Earle, Sylvia}, title = {{Efforts to save the planet must start with the Antarctic}}, publisher = {World Economic Forum}, year = {2019}, month = jul, url = {https://www.weforum.org/stories/climate-action/efforts-to-save-the-planet-and-its-oceans-must-start-with-the-antarctic/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }