ENV100Y5 Lecture Notes - Lecture 44: Exclusive Economic Zone, Methane Clathrate, Bottom Trawling

• School: UTM
• Department: Environment
• Course: ENV100Y5
• Professor: Barbara Murck

Document Summary

Chapter 13 - oceans (part 2) Wednesday, january 20, 2016. Oceans are threatened - loss of specific habitats, resource extraction, overfishing, Pollution, climate change & acidification. Several important marine habitats are in trouble - coral reefs, mangroves, salt marshes, estuaries. Coral reefs are extremely biodiverse: shallow subtropical and tropical waters, ~25% of all marine species, economically important (tourism, ecosystem services, etc. ) Mediterranean- full of invasive species. Ocean resources: source of energy: crude oil and natural gas (some of the largest in the world) Newly discovered in the past couple of decades. Also called methane clathrate, hydromethane, methane ice . Significant deposits under sediments on ocean floor. Potential impact on climate (methane is a greenhouse gas) Ocean resources: minerals: sand, gravel, calcium carbonate, and silica (largely on sediments, copper, zinc, silver, and gold, manganese. Ocean resources: fisheries: half the world"s marine fish populations are fully exploited!