In the South-West Pacific region, 2020 was the second or third warmest year on record, depending on the data set. Near-surface temperatures over the land and ocean averaged across the region were about 0.37–0.44 °C above the 1981–2010 average.
In most tropical countries, coral reef ecosystems provide coastal populations with a number of goods and services. However, a variety of anthropogenic practices threatens reef health and therefore jeopardizes the benefits flowing from these goods and services. These threats range from local pollution, sedimentation, destructive fishing practices and coral mining, to global issues such as coral bleaching.
The water systems of the world — aquifers, lakes, rivers, large marine ecosystems, and open ocean — sustain the
Healthy marine resources require healthy, intact ecosystems. Marine and coastal ecosystems are highly productive and deliver various goods and services that support communities and economies, including food security, clean water, recreational
opportunities and other benefits. Effective area-based protection, through MPAs, helps maintain ecosystem health and productivity, while safeguarding social and economic
The GEOSS Portal is an online map-based user interface which allows users to discover and access Earth observation data and resources from different providers from all over the world.
The portal is implemented and operated by the European Space Agency and provides a single internet discovery and access point to the ever-growing quantities of heterogeneous collections of Earth observations from satellites, airplanes, drones and in-situ sensors at global, regional and local scales through the Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS).
Marine protected areas (MPAs) have gained wide acceptance among coastal planners,
managers, researchers, and scientists as an effective tool that can be utilized to protect
threatened marine and coastal ecosystems. MPAs allow depleted breeding stocks of
important food fish and invertebrate species to regenerate and become re-established,
providing a foundation for sustainable fisheries. Typically, the MPA model comprises a core
no-take conservation area, within which harvest of fish and other consumable resources is
The Smithsonian Institution's Global Volcanism Program (GVP) is housed in the Department of Mineral Sciences, National Museum of Natural History, in Washington D.C. We are devoted to a better understanding of Earth's active volcanoes and their eruptions during the last 10,000 years.
The World Database on Protected Areas (WDPA) is the most comprehensive global database of marine and terrestrial protected areas, updated on a monthly basis, and is one of the key global biodiversity data sets being widely used by scientists, businesses, governments, International secretariats and others to inform planning, policy decisions and management.