Resources
The Indian Ocean Tsunami of 26 December 2004 affected part of Somalia, with most of the damage experienced in the north-east along a 650 km coastline stretching from Xafuun in the Bari region, to Garacad in the Mudug region. About 44,000 people are believed to have been affected by the tsunami.
Recent revisions to the satellite-derived vertical gravity gradient (VGG) data reveal more detail of the ocean bottom and have allowed us to develop a non-linear inversion method to detect seamounts in VGG data. We approximate VGG anomalies over seamounts as sums of individual, partially overlapping, elliptical polynomial functions, which allows us to form a non-linear inverse problem by fitting the polynomial model to the observations.
Predictive habitat models are increasingly being used by conservationists, researchers and governmental bodies to identify vulnerable ecosystems and species’ distributions in areas that have not been sampled. However, in the deep sea, several limitations have restricted the widespread utilisation of this approach. These range from issues with the accuracy of species presences, the lack of reliable absence data and the limited spatial resolution of environmental factors known or thought to control deep-sea species’ distributions.
Reefs at Risk Revisited brings together data on the world’s coral reefs in a global analysis designed to quantify threats and to map where reefs are at greatest risk of degradation or loss. We incorporated more than 50 data sources into the analysis—including data on bathymetry (ocean depth), land cover, population distribution and growth rate, observations of coral bleaching, and location of human infrastructure.
The South Indian Ocean Blue Book was presented on Saturday, December 10th, 2011 for the seashells that took place in Saint-Pierre of La Réunion.
Clean water and the many products and services of aquatic ecosystems are necessities for human welfare. Water connects human societies and ecological systems by providing food and energy. The hydrological cycle maintains the health and stimulates the productivity and diversity of all ecosystems.
The main objective of this book is to provide teachers of primary and secondary schools in the western Indian Ocean (WIO) region with a basic textbook that will allow them to introduce environmental components in the classroom as well as in outdoor activities.
Corals as organisms and coral reefs as structures and ecosystems have fascinated scientists for centuries. Charles Darwin became well-known among natural scientists long before the publication of The Origin of Species, partly because of his studies of coral reefs and coral islands.
In 1984, the Government of the Democratic Republic of Somalia approached the Executive Director of UNEP with a request for assistance in assessing the coastal and marine environmental problems of the country in drawing up a national action plan for the protection, management and development of its marine and coastal environment.
