The Ocean System EOLSS（海洋系统EOLSS）.pdf

GEOGRAPHY – Vol. I - The Ocean System - Adalberto Vallega THE OCEAN SYSTEM Adalberto Vallega First Vice-president, International Geographical Union, Genoa, Italy Keywords: Ocean governance, deep-ocean management, coastal management, regional seas management, ocean ecosystem, ocean biological diversity, ocean jurisdiction, ocean resources, ocean uses, ocean sustainable development Contents 1. Introduction 2. Managing the Ocean Ecosystem 2.1. The Tectonic Mechanisms 2.2. Ocean Governance in Relation to Plates and Margins S 2.3. The Role of the Water Column S 2.4. Atmosphere–Ocean Interaction S R 2.5. Ocean Ecological Diversity 3. The Ocean Facing Climate Change L E 3.1. The Hydrological Cycle O T 3.2. Sea-Level Rise 3.3. Impacts from Atmosphere and Ocean Circulation P E 3.4. Cardinal Deductions 4. Ocean Resource Uses – A 4.1. Evolution of Ocean Exploitation H 4.2. Key Ocean Resources 4.2.1. Exploitation of Ocean Biomass O C 4.2.2. Exploitation of Non-Living Resources C 4.3. Ocean Communication Functions 5. Ocean Governance E S 5.1. Governance Framework L 5.2. Governance Spaces E 6. The Sustainable Ocean P 7. Recapitulation N Acknowledgements M U Glossary A Bibliography Biographical Sketch S Summary The ocean has in recent times been involved in unprecedented conditions due to concurrent influences, from climatic change and subsequent changes in biogeochemical cycles to globalization and expanding and intensifying human pressure. The human approach to the ocean is moving from modern conditions, where the ocean ecosystem was regarded as an exhaustible resource reservoir, to postmodern ones, where