Back from COP27
Jilda Caccavo, aAn IPSL-funded postdoctoral researcher at LSCE was invited to speak on adaptation and mitigation strategies for Southern Ocean ecosystems under climate change at the COP27 in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt this month, as part of a session taking place in the International Cryosphere Climate Initiative (ICCI) Pavilion, titled: “Southern Ocean Ecosystems: Need for Augmented Understanding, Research Efforts and Protection”.
Together with colleagues from the University of Edinburgh, the British Antarctic Survey, and the Norwegian Polar Institute, the researchers presented the latest assessments on climate change impacts on ecosystems and sea ice in the Southern Ocean, as well as what policy strategies will be needed to mitigate these impacts, followed by a panel discussion joined by researchers in Argentina and Australia in a hybrid format.
The researchers emphasized the importance of Southern Ocean ecosystems to global biodiversity, nutrient cycling and distribution, CO2 uptake, and climate regulation. These critical ecosystems services provided by the Southern Ocean to the global human population are sensitive to climate change. The researchers also demonstrated the critical role and global implications of sea ice plays in regulating Southern Ocean processes.
In closing, the researchers stressed the need for global climate change mitigation through urgent reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, paired with effective local conservation and management, to enhance resilience to change and safeguard Southern Ocean ecosystems against irreversible deterioration and the associated loss of its wide-ranging societal benefits.