Coastal communities, especially those living in small island developing States, bear the brunt of climate change. Therefore, curbing the decline of coastal ecosystems such as mangroves, salt marshes and seaweeds will not only help alleviate the adverse effects of climate change, but also provide a lot of social and economic benefits for hundreds of millions of people. Because the ocean is the foundation of our future prosperity and sustainable development, we need to maintain the productivity of the ocean and the functions of all important marine ecosystems.
Interaction between oceans and climate change
The latest scientific research shows that there is a close relationship between the ocean and climate change. On the one hand, the ocean is an important link in the global climate system. It absorbs a lot of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere through energy and material exchange with the atmosphere and water circulation, which plays a decisive role in regulating and stabilizing the climate, so it is called the "regulator" of the earth's climate. On the other hand, the increasingly serious climate change also has a great impact on the ocean, causing problems such as rising sea level and seawater temperature, acidification of seawater, death of coral reefs, flooding of small islands, and destruction of marine and coastal ecosystems.
Last year, the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research, headquartered in Cambridge, England, published a research report entitled "Antarctic Climate Change and Environment", which said that by the end of this century, climate change may lead to sea level rise of1.4m.. If calculated at this rate, island countries such as Maldives will be completely submerged, and some coastal cities such as new york will have to spend huge sums of money to build waterproof facilities.
A report on the quality of marine environment in China released by the State Oceanic Administration last year also shows that due to climate change and other reasons, fragile zones have appeared in the coastal zone and coastal waters of China to varying degrees, and the high and medium fragile zones in the coastal zone account for 36.5% of the total length of the national coastline. The 2009 China Marine Disaster Bulletin issued by the Oceanic Administration shows that the coastal sea level in China in 2009 was at a high level in the past 30 years, 8 mm higher than that in 2008, and the sea level in China was rising faster than the global average. Last year, there were 132 storm surges, waves and red tides in China, of which 33 caused disasters. All kinds of marine disasters caused direct economic losses 100 billion yuan, with 95 people dead and missing.
"Coastal areas are the fastest and most active areas in social and economic development, but they are also the areas that lead to the deterioration of the marine environment and the most serious decline of the ecosystem, which has affected human health and social progress. Therefore, it is very important for the development of coastal cities to formulate comprehensive policies and measures, improve strict laws and regulations, carry out scientific spatial planning, strengthen reasonable environmental remediation and implement effective ecological restoration. "
Overfishing is very harmful to the ocean, so we should stop overfishing and vigorously promote the method of closed fishing period. At the same time, it is necessary to minimize reclamation projects. If it is really necessary, it must be implemented after strict scientific argumentation to minimize the harm. In addition, the atmosphere also has an impact on the ocean, so it is necessary to reduce the amount of chemical fertilizers, especially in coastal cities.
In view of the challenges faced by coastal cities, the Beijing Declaration specifically calls for the management of coastal cities to take a long-term view and ensure that scientific, social, political and economic factors are included, which is very important. Facing the risk of climate change, coastal areas can take risk and vulnerability assessment, perfect development planning and emergency plan to reduce the risk.
The following information is for reference only:
1 Main ecological and environmental problems in coastal waters
1. 1 The pressure of land-based pollution is high and the sea area is seriously polluted.
1. 1. 1 Jiangsu and Zhejiang seas have received nearly one-third of the pollution load into the sea in China.
The coastal waters of Zhejiang Province are backed by the Yangtze River Delta. With the rapid growth of coastal economy and the continuous improvement of urbanization level, the industrial wastewater and domestic sewage discharged into the sea by seven coastal cities, northern Zhejiang and Shanghai are increasing. The inland sewage carried by the seven river systems in Zhejiang Province and the Yangtze River basin on the north side is continuously injected into the sea, which has become the chief culprit of environmental pollution in the sea area. According to the survey, the pollutant load brought into the ocean by these rivers accounts for more than 90%. Relevant data show that if half of the river water containing a lot of pollutants in the Yangtze River and Shanghai's industrial and domestic sewage flow into Zhejiang waters, plus Zhejiang's own river water and sewage flowing into the sea, it will reach 500 billion cubic meters, accounting for nearly 1/3 of the country, and the pollution load into the sea will also reach nearly 1/3, that is to say, Zhejiang waters have accepted nearly one-third of the country's water volume and pollution load into the sea.
At the same time, rural domestic sewage, livestock excrement and the loss of chemical fertilizers and pesticides in coastal areas form rural non-point source pollution sources, which are discharged into the ocean through rivers and streams, and the amount of pollutants is also considerable. However, the residual bait and excrement produced by the growing mariculture industry are very important pollution sources in local coastal waters, especially in semi-closed harbors such as Xiangshan Harbor, Sanmen Bay and Yueqing Bay.
1. 1.2 seawater is highly eutrophic.
The sewage discharged from land into the sea is rich in nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus, which makes the seawater in the coastal waters highly eutrophic. The contents of inorganic nitrogen and active phosphate in Zhejiang coastal waters seriously exceeded the standard. In 2003, 9 1.2% of inorganic nitrogen in water samples exceeded Class I seawater quality standards, of which 44.3% exceeded Class IV seawater quality standards, and the highest measured value exceeded Class I seawater quality standards by 12.9 times. 9 1.8% of the water samples exceeded the first seawater standard, of which 18.6% exceeded the fourth seawater standard, and the measured maximum concentration exceeded the first seawater standard by 5.3 times. The contents of inorganic nitrogen and active phosphate in the coastal waters of northern Zhejiang are obviously higher than those in southern Zhejiang. According to the comprehensive environmental investigation results of the coastal waters of Bohai Sea, Yellow Sea, East China Sea and South China Sea organized by the State Environmental Protection Administration, the contents of inorganic nitrogen and active phosphate in the coastal waters of Zhejiang Province are among the highest in the coastal provinces (cities, autonomous regions) in China.
According to the evaluation of seawater eutrophication, the eutrophication index (e value) of Zhejiang coastal waters in 2003 was 4. 1, which was much higher than the standard value of eutrophication (e = 1). The change of e value since the ninth five-year plan is shown in figure 1. As can be seen from the figure, before 1998, the degree of seawater eutrophication in Zhejiang coastal waters showed an upward trend year by year, and remained at a high level after 1998.
It should be noted that the amount of land-based pollutants flowing into the ocean varies greatly with the amount of runoff flowing into the ocean. In dry years, the runoff into the sea is small, and the amount of pollutants entering the sea is relatively small, so the content of land-based pollutants in seawater is low.
1. 1.3 There is some organic pollution in seawater.
With the development of economy and the improvement of people's living standards, the number and types of organic pollutants are increasing, and finally they are classified into the ocean. The over-standard rate of chemical oxygen demand (organic pollution comprehensive index) in Zhejiang coastal waters showed an upward trend during the Ninth Five-Year Plan period, and has remained at around 10% in recent years. In 2003, there were over-standard areas in Hangzhou Bay, Zhoushan Sea Area and South Zhejiang Sea Area. Another indicator reflecting the degree of organic pollution is the total number of bacteria (D value). The average D value in 2003 was 2 1.20, which was a moderate pollution level. Judging from the trend since the Ninth Five-Year Plan, the degree of organic pollution in seawater is getting more and more serious.
The harm of complex organic matter to marine life, especially larvae, is incalculable. If the biological population is blocked in the development process, the impact on the whole community will be disastrous.
1. 1.4 seawater quality cannot meet the functional requirements.
In 2003, due to the influence of inorganic nitrogen and active phosphate, 43.9%, 26.8%, 9.8% and 19.5% of the coastal waters in Zhejiang Province were classified as Grade IV seawater respectively. Among them, Hangzhou Bay 100% exceeds Grade IV water quality, while the water quality in southern Zhejiang is relatively good, with Grade II water quality accounting for 83.3%. However, the coastal waters are mostly fishery waters, and the water quality requirements are Class I seawater. According to the analysis of water quality standards, in 2003, only 2.32% of the coastal waters in the province met the target requirements.
According to the analysis of the change trend of water quality categories in Zhejiang coastal waters since the Ninth Five-Year Plan (Figure 3), the proportion of water quality exceeding Class 4 and Class 4 is on the rise, while the proportion of water quality 1 Class 2 is on the decline, and the overall water quality situation tends to decline.
1. 1.5 The ecological environment in some coastal waters tends to deteriorate.
Sewage containing a large number of organic pollutants, pathogenic bacteria and viruses is discharged into the sea, which seriously pollutes the coastal waters and worsens the ecological environment in the local intertidal zone. Intertidal zone refers to the area between the lowest ebb tide and the highest flood tide, and all kinds of land-based sewage outlets directly face the intertidal zone. The monitoring results show that inorganic nitrogen and active phosphate in the intertidal zone of northern Zhejiang seriously exceed the standard, chemical oxygen demand, petroleum, lead and mercury in some areas exceed the standard, and the contents of conditional pathogenic bacteria and fecal coliforms in water are high. Surface sediments are mainly affected by heavy metals such as copper, lead and zinc, and some areas are also polluted by DDT. The species of organisms in intertidal zone are extremely poor, and some organisms have high pollutant residues. Generally speaking, the main pollution indexes in intertidal seawater have increased obviously year by year, and the ecological environment quality has deteriorated year by year.
1.2 The biodiversity in the sea area is reduced and the ecosystem is fragile.
The richer and more complex the species composition, the higher the diversity, and the better the stability of the ecosystem, and vice versa. The monitoring results showed that the number of heterotrophic bacteria and fecal coliforms in the coastal waters of Zhejiang Province showed an obvious upward trend, while the number of plankton and benthos decreased. The dominance and purity of plankton species increased, but the richness decreased day by day; The species and communities of benthos have changed obviously, the main economic fish and crustaceans are quite single, and the biomass is obviously polarized. It can be seen that the ecological environment in Zhejiang coastal waters is quite fragile. The change of biodiversity index in Zhejiang coastal waters since the Ninth Five-Year Plan is shown in Figure 4, and it can be seen that the overall trend is downward.
There are many reasons for the decline of biodiversity index, and the continuous over-intensive marine fishing and seabed sediment pollution are the main reasons for the changes of benthic species and communities. At the same time, the types and quantities of organic pollutants entering the ocean are increasing day by day, which hinders the development of biological populations and makes the ecosystem fragile.
1.3 The red tide disaster is serious and the threat is increasing.
The eutrophication of seawater provides the necessary material basis for the occurrence of red tide, which may be triggered once other conditions are suitable. The data show that Zhejiang sea area has the highest frequency of red tides in China, and red tides occur in the whole sea area from south to north, while Zhoushan sea area is relatively concentrated. In 2003, 46 red tides were found in Zhejiang waters, with a cumulative area of 7000km2. In May, 2000, a red tide occurred in the sea area of central Zhejiang, with a total area of nearly 7,000 square kilometers and a duration of 1 month, which was the largest and longest in China over the years and rare in the world. The direct economic loss caused by this red tide is nearly180,000 yuan.
From the analysis of the occurrence of red tide in recent years, the frequency of red tide is accelerating and the scope of red tide is getting bigger and bigger. The main species of red tide organisms are gradually changing from diatoms to protozoa and dinoflagellates. At the same time, because many dinoflagellates are toxic, the threat to biological resources, fishery production and human health is gradually increasing.
1.4 coastal wetlands are decreasing year by year, and the wetland ecosystem is unbalanced.
The total area of coastal and coastal wetlands in Zhejiang Province, which exceeds 100 hectare, is 574,300 hm2, of which coastal wetlands account for nearly half. Among them, Anton Wetland, Dongtan Wetland of Hannah Quinlivan Island and Nanji Islands Nature Reserve are listed in the list of important wetlands in China.
Although coastal wetlands in Zhejiang Province are generally silted up, reclamation construction has developed rapidly since the founding of the People's Republic of China. By the end of 1999, the whole province has reclaimed land 162800 hm2, and some existing beaches have been reclaimed for 2-3 times, but the natural siltation speed of beaches can't keep up with the development speed of reclamation construction, which makes the ground elevation of existing beaches mostly low. Reclamation can increase the land area and meet the needs of economic development. However, the speed of reclamation is too fast, and the natural sedimentation speed of tidal flat can't keep up with the development speed of reclamation construction, which will inevitably reduce the coastal wetland area, especially the tidal flat area, destroy the wetland vegetation and natural landscape, make wetland creatures lose their homes and make the wetland ecosystem out of balance. At the same time, it will also cause the surrounding area to decrease year by year and increase the cost of reclamation. If the excellent coastal beach resources are not effectively protected, the natural ecological structure of these beaches will be completely changed, some precious species with important protection significance in the history of ecology, genetics and biological evolution will disappear, and the coastal natural ecological landscape will undergo tremendous changes.
1.5 The oil storage and transportation volume is increasing, and the threat of oil spill accidents is increasing.
With the rapid development of social economy, the demand for crude oil and refined oil is increasing. The unique deep-water port resources in Zhejiang coastal waters provide conditions for the oil storage and transportation industry. At present, the throughput of bulk oil products along the coast of our province reaches 80 million tons, accounting for two of the five strategic crude oil reserves in China. The main oil terminals and storage and transportation bases are concentrated in Ningbo and Zhoushan Port. Zhoushan Port alone has more than 4,000 oil tankers entering and leaving the port every year. The possible oil spill accidents in the process of oil storage and transportation have brought serious threats to the ecological environment in this sea area.
Since 1990s, oil spill accidents at sea in China have been on the rise. From 1987 to 2002, there were oil spill accidents on ships and docks 1984, and the oil spill volume was 14 188 tons, of which 19 18 was less than18. From June, 5438 to October, 2000 10, the natural gas submarine oil pipeline in Pinghu, East China Sea broke at KP2.46 km of Daishan landing point in our province, causing about 300 cubic meters (about 230 tons) of crude oil leakage. In July 2002, Zhepu Yuyou No.98 sank in Zhoushan Port, causing more than 200 tons of diesel oil to leak. These oil spill accidents have brought great impact on the ecological environment of local waters.
2 Countermeasures and suggestions
With the advancement of global industrialization and urbanization, the beautiful ecological environment has become one of the scarcest resources for human beings. The protection of marine ecological environment is related to human survival and sustainable development. The ecological and environmental problems in the coastal waters of Zhejiang Province involve all aspects, and scientific and effective solutions to these problems also require long-term unremitting efforts of all parties.
2. 1 Strengthen leadership, deepen management and involve the whole people.
The protection of marine ecological environment is a complex and special cross-regional, cross-departmental and cross-industry systematic project, involving a wide range and heavy tasks. It is necessary to strengthen leadership and coordinate actions. According to the relevant provisions of the Environmental Protection Law of People's Republic of China (PRC), it is an important function of the coastal local people's government to protect and improve the ecological environment in the coastal waters of this administrative region. Therefore, the people's governments at the provincial, city and county levels must strengthen their leadership over the protection of marine ecological environment, implement the chief executive responsibility system for the protection of marine ecological environment, and take their tasks as one of the assessment contents.
According to the Law of the People's Republic of China on Marine Environmental Protection and the Regulations of Zhejiang Province on Marine Environmental Management, under the guidance, coordination and supervision of the environmental protection department, marine ecological environmental protection is divided into five departments: environmental protection, marine, maritime, fishery and military. China's national conditions determine the inevitability of multi-sector management of the ocean, but the disadvantages of this management system are obvious. In this case, it is particularly important for environmental protection departments at all levels to strengthen the "guidance, coordination and supervision" of marine ecological environment protection and implement it.
Environmental protection involves everyone. It is necessary to make full use of various media and organizations to publicize the knowledge of marine ecological environment, carry out in-depth education on the national conditions, national conditions and provincial conditions of marine environment, effectively improve the awareness of marine environmental protection and legal concepts of all sectors of society, and form a good atmosphere for everyone to participate in marine ecological environment protection.
2.2 Strengthen regional cooperation and carry out comprehensive improvement of river basins (especially the Yangtze River Basin).
The pollutants in Zhejiang coastal waters mainly come from land-based runoff, especially the Yangtze River, and pollutants from Shanghai also have a considerable impact. Therefore, in order to improve the ecological environment of coastal waters, on the one hand, we should strengthen the management of land-based direct discharge pollution sources and various marine pollution sources; On the other hand, it is necessary to comprehensively manage the main coastal basins, especially the Yangtze River; At the same time, Shanghai and Jiangsu should unite to carry out coastal marine environmental protection and ecological restoration in the Yangtze River Delta.
To carry out comprehensive improvement of river basins, it is necessary to strengthen the control of industrial pollution sources, improve the nitrogen and phosphorus treatment level of urban domestic sewage, strengthen soil and water conservation, control the unorganized discharge of rural domestic sewage and livestock and poultry breeding sewage, and gradually reduce the pollution load entering the sea area. For the comprehensive improvement of the Yangtze River basin, the state must take the lead in establishing an effective regional cooperation mechanism for pollution prevention and control.
We will build an integrated management system for environmental protection and ecological construction in the coastal waters of the Yangtze River Delta, and establish an action organization for environmental protection and ecological construction in the coastal waters of the Yangtze River Delta, which is coordinated by the state and organized by local governments, with joint cooperation and unified supervision. It is necessary to establish and improve the management system of coastal zone management and total pollutant discharge control; Establish a regional unified maritime law enforcement mechanism, gradually improve the multi-functional maritime supervision and law enforcement team, and implement unified supervision and law enforcement; We will jointly establish an on-site monitoring network system for the ecological environment in the coastal waters of the Yangtze River Delta, a remote sensing dynamic monitoring system for the ecological environment and a marine disaster prevention and forecasting system.
2.3 Improve the investment guarantee mechanism and increase investment in marine ecological environment protection.
Protecting the ecological environment of coastal waters is the basic responsibility of coastal governments at all levels. Governments at all levels should incorporate the funds needed for the protection and construction of marine ecological environment into the fiscal budget at the corresponding level, and ensure the proportion of investment and growth. Priority will be given to the key projects of marine ecological environment construction in the national economic and social development plan of the region, and various forms such as auction, lease and contracting will be adopted, and various investors will be encouraged to participate in the development and management of coastal beaches, shallow seas and islands through policies such as financial transfer payment, expansion of public services and extension of project operation period. On the basis of improving economic and social benefits, we will actively create conditions, implement mechanism innovation, and establish a compensation fund system for marine ecological environment construction of marine tourism, dock traffic, oil and gas development and other construction projects.
2.4 Launch the "Zhejiang Bihai Action Plan" to comprehensively carry out pollution control and ecological protection and restoration in the sea area.
Zhejiang Blue Ocean Action Plan is a comprehensive phased implementation plan for marine ecological environment protection in our province in the next decade. The Action Plan is based on restoring and improving the ecological environment in coastal waters and strengthening emergency preparedness for pollution accidents. It takes the adjustment of industrial structure and production mode and the transformation of economic growth mode in coastal areas as the basic approach, and makes overall plans for land and sea, rivers and seas, focusing on controlling pollutants entering the sea and comprehensive management and ecological restoration of the marine environment, curbing the deterioration of the marine environment, promoting the improvement of the quality of the marine environment, enhancing the service function of the marine ecosystem and ensuring the sustainable social and economic development in coastal areas of Zhejiang.
Zhejiang Bihai Action Plan, combined with the Outline of Zhejiang Eco-province Construction Plan, determines the phased action targets before 2020, defines the action strategies for the ecological environment problems in the coastal waters of our province, lists the specific measures and tasks for controlling the total discharge of pollutants from various pollution sources in coastal areas and river basins in each action stage, puts forward the key projects for ecological environment construction in coastal waters, and puts forward the emergency action plans for major pollution accidents in each stage. After the approval and implementation of Zhejiang Blue Ocean Action Plan, all sea-related departments should strengthen supervision according to their respective responsibilities, and the people's governments around the coast should seriously organize the implementation.
2.5 Integrate advantages and improve the monitoring ability of ecological environment in coastal waters.
Environmental monitoring is not only the technical guarantee of environmental management, but also an important part of environmental management law enforcement system. Marine ecological environment monitoring is highly specialized and has high investment, so it is not suitable for establishing professional monitoring stations everywhere. At present, the monitoring power of marine ecological environment in our province is relatively strong in the whole country. Zhoushan marine ecological environment monitoring station is a national coastal environmental monitoring center with large scale and strong technical force. According to the characteristics of the ecological environment in Zhejiang coastal waters, it is entirely possible to monitor the ecological environment in the coastal waters of the whole province with the station as the main part and the monitoring power of other departments and coastal environmental protection departments as the supplement. Therefore, we should make full use of Zhoushan marine ecological environment monitoring station, increase investment on the existing basis, and further improve its monitoring ability. At the same time, we should also strengthen the professional guidance to the coastal environmental protection monitoring department, so that it can undertake the task of environmental monitoring in coastal waters within its administrative area.
For the monitoring of marine pollution accidents such as red tide disaster and oil spill, an all-round and multi-level monitoring network and early warning and forecasting monitoring system should be established to improve its accuracy and timeliness and provide scientific basis for decision-making departments.
2.6 In-depth research on the basic technology of marine ecological environment protection.
The protection of marine ecological environment needs strong scientific and technological support, involving many social and natural disciplines, and the technology in many fields is still immature, so it is necessary to strengthen the research work of basic technology.
These technologies include: marine ecological environment geographic information system and remote sensing application technology; Total pollutant control technology in key sea areas; Comprehensive evaluation technology of ecological environment quality in coastal waters: application technology of pollution prevention and control in typical sea areas and ecological restoration in coastal areas; Monitoring, prediction and prevention technology of red tide and marine fouling disaster. At the same time, actively explore the management mechanism of ecological environment protection in coastal waters, and study and formulate local marine ecological environment quality standards.