New ocean protections and policy influences.

Two major ocean protections were implemented in the month of October. America’s 17th National Marine Sanctuary—the Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary was designated. As the third-largest protection area, the sanctuary was established to conserve a diverse range of marine habitat and protect Indigenous connections to the area. Additionally, the Autonomous Region of the Azores was designated as the largest marine protected area network in the North Atlantic. This designation safeguards 30% of the sea surrounding the Azores archipelago to protect and conserve marine biodiversity and improve resilience.

Environmental policy frameworks, especially those for unprecedented technologies and practices like climate intervention, are complex to create but vital for progress. A recent study published in Conservation Biology has shown that low-impact-factor journals—often overlooked for publication—have proven instrumental in providing specialized and granular information for the development of key policies and regulations. The American Geophysical Union (AGU) also recently published ethical framework principles for climate interventions to guide responsible decision-making and inclusive dialogue.

Spaces we’re watching: marine instruments, ocean funding, ocean observation

You can find “The Water Column” in each edition of eco magazine, nestled among the pages of Environmental Policy News, and in a monthly digital edition available at: https://ecomagazine.com/reporting/water-column/

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