An\u00a0unprecedented heat wave<\/a>\u00a0is gripping the world\u2019s oceans.\u00a0<\/p>\n Temperatures, exacerbated by El Ni\u00f1o weather patterns, have soared to record-breaking highs\u00a0every day for the past year<\/a>.<\/p>\n The headlines are grim \u2014 but there is hope on the horizon.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Last year, more than 80 countries approved a landmark treaty<\/a> to protect large swaths of the world\u2019s oceans. Decades in the making, the \u201chigh seas treaty\u201d affects roughly two-thirds of the world\u2019s oceans that lie beyond national boundaries \u2014 and are largely unexplored and unprotected.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n As countries now work to ratify the treaty, a new<\/span>\u00a0commentary<\/a>\u00a0published in the journal Nature has a warning for negotiators.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cPut bluntly, the high seas treaty will not succeed if it doesn\u2019t account for climate change,\u201d said Conservation International climate scientist Lee Hannah, the article\u2019s lead author. \u201cOur window of opportunity is closing, but we still have time to get this right if we move swiftly.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Climate change is already disrupting marine life, triggering fears of mass extinctions<\/a> and altering species\u2019 migration patterns.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cProtecting biodiversity in the high seas in the face of climate change is an ongoing chess game,\u201d Hannah said. \u201cWe have models to predict where species are moving, and we must act on them. But we must also be prepared for the unexpected impacts climate change will bring.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n The high seas are essentially no-man\u2019s land \u2014 no single country has jurisdiction over them, which makes protecting the high seas from overfishing, mining and pollution all the more difficult.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n As it stands, the high seas treaty creates a legal framework to establish marine protected areas in waters outside of countries\u2019 jurisdictions. Advocates hope the treaty will take effect sometime in the next year. In the meantime, Hannah says countries, regional fishery authorities and international scientific organizations involved in the treaty must plan for the unprecedented changes oceans are facing.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n For example, climate change is pushing tuna populations<\/a> further east, into the high seas and outside the jurisdictions of Pacific island nations. In those unprotected waters, not only are tuna stocks vulnerable to overexploitation by international fishing fleets, but the economies of developing Pacific islands are also left without a major source of revenue.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n And the clock is ticking: Nearly every country on Earth has agreed to protect 30 percent of Earth\u2019s lands and seas by 2030 (an effort known as \u201c30 by 30\u201d), but that will be impossible without the high seas, said Isaac Brito, a Conservation International marine scientist and co-author of the commentary.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cIf we try to reach \u201830 by 30\u2019 by only protecting individual countries\u2019 jurisdictional waters, we would have to protect more than 60 percent of those waters globally \u2014 which would limit activities like fishing and mining in more than half of the marine territory of each country,\u201d he said. \u201cNo country will ever sign that.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n The high seas are home to more than <\/span>90 percent<\/a> of ocean habitat and hold some of the highest reservoirs of <\/span>biodiversity<\/a> on the planet.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n But if migratory species aren\u2019t protected in the high seas, they are not fully protected anywhere, Hannah said. For example, warming waters and changes in food supply have pushed<\/a> North Atlantic right whales farther north to new regions off the coast of Canada, where an increase in run-ins with the shipping and fishing industry has led to entanglements in fishing gear and deaths. As a result, new conservation measures are needed in these areas to protect the endangered species.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Ultimately, the conservation plans we create in the high seas need to reflect how species\u2019 migratory, breeding and feeding habitats are shifting in the face of climate change, Hannah said.<\/span><\/p>\n![\"\"\/](\"https:\/\/ciorg.imgix.net\/images\/default-source\/default-album\/ci_62712528_full?&auto=compress&auto=format&fit=crop?&auto=compress&auto=format&w=800\")
Climate change is shifting tuna populations east into the high seas. \u00a9 2019 WONDERFUL NATURE\/SHUTTERSTOCK<\/h6>\n
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