José Xavier and Zara Teixeira in ‘The Living Planet’
‘The Living Planet’ is an RTP documentary series that offers a privileged view of the internal and external dynamics of the globe, emphasising the contribution of human action to the balance, or imbalance, of the Earth's system. The sixth and final episode ‘Biodiversity’ features MARE researchers José Xavier and Zara Teixeira.
How to promote biodiversity and what to do to protect the biosphere are the main themes of the sixth episode of ‘The Living Planet’. This biological diversity of around 50 million species is the repository of resources on which humanity's survival depends. It is currently subject to strong human threats, such as climate change, which has a strong effect on the polar regions, causing them to melt.
One of the regions most affected is Antarctica, as José Xavier explains: ‘Antarctica is the continent that has 3 to 5 kilometres of ice on top (...), what happens is that this ice melts, and this water is cold and very dense, so it sinks. That water goes to the bottom of the sea and takes a lot of the nutrients to other parts of the planet.’ This phenomenon can profoundly disturb the balance of this icy continent and, consequently, the rest of the planet since, according to the researcher, ‘Antarctica can contribute three quarters of the production of the oceans themselves, in other words, 75 per cent of the production that we see comes from this circulation of currents that have a lot of influence in Antarctica’.
In addition to melting ice, José Xavier says that this continent has also begun to be exposed to the anthropogenic problem of marine litter: ‘We discovered microplastics in Antarctic penguins for the first time’. According to the researcher, this discovery raises several problems, such as the consequences and implications for the survival of these animals and the rest of the food chain. However, José Xavier has a solution: ‘Solving this problem, I presume, is just a question of investment and having the technology to remove the plastics.’
Whatever the threat to marine ecosystems, the solution is always sustainability. Currently in Portugal, there are several organisations working under this motto, in the most diverse areas linked to the ocean. In the case of aquaculture, Zara Teixeira introduced us to the Algaplus project, which focuses on the economic and environmental sustainability of aquaculture.
We wanted to try to understand whether the algae would be good for guaranteeing the purification of the water, that is, improving the quality of the water, so that when the water is exported from the aquacultures to the estuary, it will be of better quality,’ the researcher explains. ‘Our partnerships are designed to ensure that the negative impact on natural ecosystems is minimal or even non-existent. Economic and social development is extremely important, but ensuring that there is no or minimal impact, or that it can be compensated for, is extremely important to us and we never give up on that.’
In this way, the researchers warn that climate change is a reality, and that anything we can do to counteract it is an asset. How to promote biodiversity and what to do to protect the biosphere are the main themes of the sixth programme of ‘The Living Planet’.
Click HERE to watch the episode