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61,005 resultsShowing papers similar to Diagnostic analysis of the Canary Current System of West Africa: the need for a paradigm shift to proactive natural resource management
ClearMicroplastics in the Canary Islands: A Case Study on Transport and Tourist Pressure
Researchers assessed microplastic contamination in the Canary Islands, a region heavily influenced by Atlantic Ocean currents, and found that remote sources contributed significantly to local beach and water accumulation. The study also evaluated emerging contaminants on an EU regulatory watch list, finding limited but concerning data on ecological risks.
Microplastic and mesoplastic pollution in surface waters and beaches of the Canary Islands: A review
This review assesses a decade of research on microplastic and mesoplastic pollution in the waters and beaches of the Canary Islands. The study highlights how the archipelago's position in the North Atlantic Subtropical Gyre makes it particularly vulnerable to oceanic transport of plastic debris from remote sources.
Marine monitoring in Europe: is it adequate to address environmental threats and pressures?
A review of European coastal monitoring programs found significant gaps in detecting and tracking environmental threats, including microplastic pollution. The study calls for better integration of monitoring networks to provide the data needed for effective ocean management and pollution control.
Global Ocean Governance and Ecological Civilization
This study examines global ocean governance frameworks and argues that achieving 'ecological civilization' requires coordinated international responses to mounting threats including climate change, ocean acidification, microplastic pollution, and overexploitation of marine resources.
Scientific, societal and pedagogical approaches to tackle the impact of climate change on marine pollution
Researchers combined ocean elevation data, climate models, and computer simulations to show that climate change could alter the concentration and flow of marine pollution across European seas, identifying rivers near cities, coastal population growth, shipping lanes, and industrial fishing as the main sources of ocean contamination.
Valuing biodiversity and ecosystem services: a useful way to manage and conserve marine resources?
This review examines whether assigning monetary values to marine biodiversity and ecosystem services effectively supports ocean conservation and management. The authors find that while ecosystem valuation is an established approach on land, its use in marine environments lags behind due to the practical challenges of ocean research and complex governance structures.
Transformative Governance for Ocean Biodiversity
This review examines transformative governance approaches needed to protect ocean biodiversity, analyzing how existing international frameworks, policies, and institutions can be restructured to meet the scale of threats facing marine ecosystems. The authors assess the barriers and opportunities for achieving systemic change in ocean management toward more effective biodiversity conservation.
Exploring the origin and fate of surface and sub-surface marine microplastics in the Canary Islands region
Researchers investigated the origin, transport, and fate of microplastics at various ocean depths around the Canary Islands in the Atlantic Ocean. The study found high concentrations of microplastics at known hotspot beaches and provided new insights into how large-scale and mesoscale ocean dynamics influence the distribution of plastic particles in both surface and sub-surface waters.
Microplastic dynamics and risk projections in West African coastal areas: Developing a vulnerability index, adverse ecological pathways, and mitigation framework using remote-sensed oceanographic profiles
Researchers analyzed microplastic dynamics along West African coastal areas using remote-sensed oceanographic data from 2019 to 2024. They developed a vulnerability index to assess ecological risk and identified key environmental factors driving microplastic transport in the region. The study proposes a mitigation framework to help coastal communities and policymakers address this growing pollution challenge.
Coastal lagoons of West Africa: a scoping study of environmental status and management challenges
This review examines the environmental status of 31 coastal lagoons across West Africa, finding that waste pollution, overuse of resources, and urban expansion are major threats to these ecosystems. Plastic pollution, including microplastics, is among the identified pressures degrading water quality and harming both aquatic life and the human communities that depend on these lagoons. The study highlights significant knowledge gaps about waste management and pollution levels in this region.
The Salient Dynamics of Cross-Border Ocean Governance in a Regional Setting: An Evaluation of Ocean Governance Systems and Institutional Frameworks in the Guinea Current Large Marine Ecosystem
Researchers examined cross-border ocean governance in the Guinea Current Large Marine Ecosystem using Benin, Nigeria, and Cameroon as case studies, identifying that UNCLOS implementation, shared maritime challenges, and policy convergence are key enablers of effective regional cooperation.
Climate Change, Ocean Pollution, and Acidification: The Application of Integrated Management Strategies within the Framework of the United Nations Decade of Ocean Science
This study reviewed the impacts of climate change, ocean pollution, and acidification on marine ecosystems within the framework of the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development 2021-2030. Integrated management strategies combining scientific research, technological innovation, and international governance were identified as essential for addressing these interconnected threats to ocean health.
Sustainable Development Goal 14 in the Western Indian Ocean: a socio-ecological approach to understanding progress
This study evaluates progress toward Sustainable Development Goal 14 (life below water) in the Western Indian Ocean region, finding that while SDG 14 has influenced regional policy, current monitoring tools are insufficient to fully capture progress at the national level.
Identifying and addressing the anthropogenic drivers of global change in the North Sea: a systematic map protocol
Researchers designed a systematic review protocol to map 75 years of scientific literature on five key human pressures — including pollution, climate change, and overfishing — affecting the North Sea, aiming to identify research gaps and guide future integrated marine management.
Groundwater dependent ecosystems in coastal Mediterranean regions: Characterization, challenges and management for their protection
Researchers reviewed the status of coastal groundwater-dependent ecosystems (wetlands and lagoons sustained by aquifer discharge) in Mediterranean regions, identifying plastic pollution, over-extraction, and weak governance as critical threats, and calling for new legal definitions and transdisciplinary management frameworks to protect them.
Marine microplastics analysis and their transport in the water column of the Canary Islands region
Researchers characterized marine microplastics in the water column of the Canary Islands, tracking how ocean currents and physical processes transport particles vertically and horizontally. The study found that particle properties and oceanographic conditions jointly determine where microplastics accumulate in the water column.
Assessment of land-based pollution problems in Kenyan marine environments to facilitate adaptive management of coral reef systems
Researchers assessed land-based pollution in Kenyan coastal waters near Mombasa, finding that sewage-derived nutrients are degrading coral reef health in a marine national park, underscoring the need for integrated coastal management to reduce terrestrial runoff.
Multiple anthropogenic stressors in the Galápagos Islands' complex social-ecological system: Interactions of marine pollution, fishing pressure, and climate change with management recommendations.
This review assessed the cumulative impacts of marine pollution, fishing pressure, and climate change on the Galápagos Islands' social-ecological system, finding that microplastics, persistent organic pollutants, and metals interact with fishing impacts to threaten endemic species, and proposing integrated management recommendations.
An identification and a prioritisation of geographic and temporal data gaps of Mediterranean marine databases
This paper mapped temporal and geographic data gaps in Mediterranean Sea environmental monitoring, identifying where and when observational data is lacking. Filling these data gaps is important for understanding microplastic distribution and accumulation patterns in one of the world's most heavily polluted marine regions.
Marine top predators as climate and ecosystem sentinels
This review examines how marine apex predators such as whales, seals, and seabirds can serve as sentinel species for monitoring ocean ecosystem health and climate change. Researchers argue that because these animals move across ocean basins and integrate information from multiple levels of the food chain, they provide uniquely valuable signals about environmental shifts. The study proposes a framework for using networks of marine predator sentinels to improve ocean management and early detection of ecosystem changes.
Microplastic and tar pollution on three Canary Islands beaches: An annual study
Researchers monitored large microplastics, mesoplastics, and tar pollution across three exposed Canary Islands beaches for a full year, finding great spatial and temporal variability in debris concentrations driven by seasonal patterns and local oceanographic conditions.
Towards an urban marine ecology: characterizing the drivers, patterns and processes of marine ecosystems in coastal cities
Researchers reviewed the emerging field of urban marine ecology, examining how coastal cities transform nearby marine environments through resource exploitation, pollution, and construction of artificial structures. They found that urban marine ecosystems are characterized by spatially heterogeneous pollution patterns and biotic homogenization over time. The study calls for an integrated framework to better understand and manage the unique ecological dynamics of marine environments adjacent to major cities.
Impacts of Climate Change on the Ascension Island Marine Protected Area and Its Ecosystem Services
Researchers developed the first marine circulation and biogeochemistry projections for the Ascension Island Marine Protected Area using CMIP6 ensemble models, projecting by mid-century significant warming, increased salinity, shallower mixed layers, reduced nutrients and primary production, and assessed resulting threats to five key ecosystem services under both low and high emissions scenarios.
Marine microplastics analysis and their transport in the water column of the Canary Islands region
Researchers analyzed microplastics in seawater samples from the Canary Islands region, studying how oceanographic processes transport plastic particles through the water column. The study characterized plastic particle abundance, size, and polymer type at multiple depths, documenting how vertical transport processes move microplastics from the surface to depth.