Marine reserves can mitigate and promote adaptation to climate change

TLDR

Strong greenhouse gas reductions are needed to meet Paris Agreement goals, yet additional measures are required to enhance ecosystem resilience and protect vital services. The study examines how well‑managed marine reserves can aid adaptation to climate change impacts such as acidification, sea‑level rise, storm intensity, species shifts, and reduced productivity. It outlines that marine reserves promote carbon sequestration and storage while buffering against environmental uncertainty, directional change, and extreme events. The authors conclude that marine reserves are a low‑tech, cost‑effective adaptation strategy offering multiple co‑benefits from local to global scales.

Abstract

Strong decreases in greenhouse gas emissions are required to meet the reduction trajectory resolved within the 2015 Paris Agreement. However, even these decreases will not avert serious stress and damage to life on Earth, and additional steps are needed to boost the resilience of ecosystems, safeguard their wildlife, and protect their capacity to supply vital goods and services. We discuss how well-managed marine reserves may help marine ecosystems and people adapt to five prominent impacts of climate change: acidification, sea-level rise, intensification of storms, shifts in species distribution, and decreased productivity and oxygen availability, as well as their cumulative effects. We explore the role of managed ecosystems in mitigating climate change by promoting carbon sequestration and storage and by buffering against uncertainty in management, environmental fluctuations, directional change, and extreme events. We highlight both strengths and limitations and conclude that marine reserves are a viable low-tech, cost-effective adaptation strategy that would yield multiple cobenefits from local to global scales, improving the outlook for the environment and people into the future.