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How Climate Change is Choking Marine Ecosystems

The University of Cambridge Dec 22, 2017
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climate change
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Quick, when I say “ocean” what are the images that come to mind? Humpback whales breaking through blue water or maybe miles of coral reef guarded by brightly colored fish. But what if I told you that the smallest things, those that can’t be seen with the unaided eye, are also worthy of exploration. In the water running seaward and in the sand and mud at your toes – there is life. A life that is responsible for the recycling of nutrients and sometimes the cleansing of water.

It turns out that microscopic forms of life living in marine sediments play a crucial role in regulating the number of nutrients (nitrogen and phosphorus) in the water column. We care about the amount and kinds of nutrients in the water because they feed microscopic plants (phytoplankton) that form the basis of the food web. When it comes to marine systems we are primarily concerned with nitrogen. Nitrogen has the most profound impact on coastal systems because it is the limiting nutrient. That is, it is often the least abundant relative to the amount required to form life, so phytoplankton growth is restricted by the supply of that nutrient.

The long-term effects of what we observed last summer still need to be explored. The next step is to determine how much of the fixed nitrogen is recycled into the water column. This will help us to determine if the fixed nitrogen can affect other ecological processes in the bay. We also need to see if nitrogen fixation is taking place in other estuaries and along the continental shelf. Since these areas are hot spots for nitrogen removal through denitrification, should they switch to nitrogen fixation, it could have important consequences for the open ocean.

Read the full article by Robinson Fulweiler about climate change from The University of Cambridge

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Natural Resources is a complex topic, and others found these selections from the Impact Giving archive from Giving Compass to be good resources.

  • This article is deemed a must-read by one or more of our expert collaborators.
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    WASH Service: Financial Viability vs. User Affordability

    Giving Compass' Take: • WASH Funders examines the financial soundness of  six different service delivery models in the sector, specifically looking for institutions that can scale properly. • Which models were most effective and how can they be replicated? One big takeaway is to never lose sight of the needs for consumers, especially those in low-income areas. • Here's why women are often hit hardest by adequate WASH access. In a new publication we explore the financial viability of six urban WASH service delivery models. Each case study had three common features: 1) service delivery is overseen by a locally mandated institution, directly or through public-private partnership; 2) a significant portion of the target customer base (in most cases the entire customer base) live in low-income areas of the city; and 3) the model has demonstrated financial viability over a sustained period, with the result that the service provider can be confident of recovering costs and in some cases generating profit. Ensuring that WASH services recover costs while remaining affordable for low-income households, and reaching the city’s most vulnerable residents, is a constant balancing act. Our publication, Balancing financial viability and user affordability, shows it can be done. In this blog we share some key insights. Combined with the right incentives, targeted institutional support can bring a huge return on investment in terms of benefits to low-income consumers. A case in point is the institutional reform implemented by JIRAMA, the water utility in Madagascar. Since 2010 WSUP and JIRAMA have worked in partnership to implement a Non-Revenue Water (NRW) reduction program, aimed at improving the utility’s financial efficiency and overall performance. By prioritizing leakage detection among other measures, the utility has made huge efficiency savings which have been used to strengthen water supply across the city. WSUP estimates that more than 700,000 low-income consumers have benefitted from the program, with a projected net financial gain to JIRAMA of US$ 2.4 million for the period 2011-2020 for reinvestment into services in low-income communities. Read the full article about financial viability in WASH service delivery models by Sam Drabble at WASHfunders.


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