Stories, Archaeology and Narratives: Buy One, Get Two!

The effects of carbon dioxide on marine ecosystems

The provocative title reflects one of the most insidious challenges of the Anthropocene: the dual nature of human impact on the oceans.

The ocean acts as a gigantic thermal regulator, having absorbed over 90% of the excess heat trapped by the greenhouse effect over the past century. This leads to rising average surface temperatures and increasingly frequent and intense marine heatwaves. At the same time, the ocean functions as a “carbon sponge,” absorbing about 25–30% of human CO₂ emissions.

During this talk, we will explore how this “double hit” is damaging marine biodiversity. Mediterranean and oceanic case studies will be analyzed to understand whether the physiological plasticity of local species will be sufficient to ensure ecosystem resilience, or whether we are moving toward an unprecedented biological simplification in Earth’s history.

Speaker:

Valerio Zupo
PhD, researcher at the Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn