Chapter 12 - Paths to Sustainable Ocean Resources

• Main Author: Wowk, Kateryna M.
• Format: Text
• Language: unknown
• Published: The Maritime Commons: Digital Repository of the World Maritime University 2013
• Subjects: multiple stressors; ecosystem resilience; ecosystem approaches; precautionary approach; insurance-based risk models; network governance; local action; Ocean acidification
• Online Access: https://commons.wmu.se/lib_chapters/21; https://commons.wmu.se/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1020&context=lib_chapters

Marine ecosystem services support our daily lives in a number of ways. Yet, multiple stressors acting on the marine environment, such as climate change, ocean acidification, pollution, and the overuse of marine resources threaten the continued provision of these services. While targeted actions are needed to address issue-specific threats, decision makers and the public must also concert efforts toward governance regimes that account for multiple stressors and foster ecosystem resilience. Further, while research is needed to better understand the impacts of multiple stressors, insurance-based models can be adopted to reduce risk by accounting for combined conditional probabilities of the effects of multiple stressors, including low probability but high-impact events. We must not allow the complexity of today’s challenges chart our future. We can act to avoid potentially disastrous loss and substantial costs through taking proactive measures now. https://commons.wmu.se/lib_chapters/1020/thumbnail.jpg