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Posted on : 10/8/2025, 10:29:15 PM
We are not talking about another AI trend, but rather a real term that everyone involved in the maritime sector is starting to get familiar with.
The term "Desertification" is relatively old, dating back to 1949, while "Marine Desertification" is more recent. Scientific literature began to use "Marine Desertification" around 2024 to describe the specific ecological changes and barrenness observed in marine environments, such as the loss of macro-algal forests.
In this article, we provide you with an approach to the Marine Desertification concept and the practices leading to its occurrence and expansion.
Marine desertification is the depletion of marine life in ocean floor areas due to a hostile and changing environment, often caused by climate change (e.g., rising sea temperatures), ocean acidification, pollution, and human activities such as overfishing etc. Addressing this issue requires awareness and expertise, which can be gained through programs like Maritime training courses UK. This leads to the loss of vital marine habitats, a decline in marine biodiversity, and the destruction of ecosystems such as algal-rich marine forests, thus transforming highly productive areas into arid regions, a process of ecosystem degradation, or what is known as “oceanic deserts” in the sea environment.
Is this phenomenon reversible? Can ecosystems be recovered if lost?
We will, of course, answer these legitimate questions, but first, let's take a look at the Key causes of marine desertification.
Climate Change is considered the greatest threat to the environment in general, representing a change that affects both land and ocean ecosystems, including marine environments, no doubt.
So, how does Climate Change drive marine desertification?
Global warming causes the surface waters of the oceans to rise in temperature and decrease in density. This leads to warmer, less dense water accumulating above cold, nutrient-rich, deep waters, preventing them from mixing. This phenomenon is known as ocean stratification, and results in a decrease in nutrient upwelling—meaning that essential nutrients and nutrient availability found in the deep oceans cannot reach the surface layers where they are most needed. This, in turn, leads to a decline in phytoplankton, which form the base of the marine food web. This means the gradual destruction of marine ecosystems, leading to the formation, degradation, and expansion of ocean deserts.
This pattern has been suggested in several studies, including satellite-based models, which reveal evidence of decreasing biomass and increasing nutrient exhaustion. Some anecdotal reports even point to alarming variations in subtropical gyres, with concomitant degradation linked to climatic factors. Previous investigation also suggests that desertification processes are not limited to land but affect oceans too, turning once fertile sea portions into poor, unproductive zones.
Pollution creates hostile environmental conditions and accelerates degradation that lead to marine desertification. Climate change, in turn, intensifies these issues, amplifying every environmental change, creating a vicious cycle of ocean degradation and loss of biodiversity.
About 80% of Marine Pollution originates from land, including but not limited to, agricultural runoff (nutrients, pesticides), plastic waste, industrial discharges (heavy metals, persistent organic pollutants), and sewage. On the other hand, Oil spills from vessels, Ship wastes dumped at sea, and emissions from shipping also contribute in the remaining 20%.
Marine pollution causes significant damage and degradation to marine environments, both directly and indirectly. For example, plastic kills marine organisms that may accidentally ingest it, such as turtles. Bio-oxins may also accumulate in organisms and food chains, affecting larger organisms and even harming humans.
Pollution also causes significant direct damage to sensitive coastal ecosystems such as coral reefs and mangroves.
There are also indirect, but no less damaging, effects. For example, the introduction of large amounts of nutrients (agricultural waste and other sources) from surface runoff leads to algal blooms that consume massive amounts of oxygen, creating dead zones.
As we mentioned earlier, pollution weakens marine ecosystems and increases their sensitivity, making them less resilient to other stressors such as climate change.
Projects funded by national centres such as the UK's NOC (National Oceanography Centre) and leading scientists in Bahrain have revealed alarming evidence of the impact of landfill activities and coastal projects on marine biodiversity, sustainable resource use, and the quality of water. Their investigation suggests that both natural processes and human activities form a combination of factors behind marine degradation.
Ocean Acidification, by definition, the ongoing decrease in the ocean's pH due to the absorption of human-caused carbon dioxide emissions, which reacts with seawater to form carbonic acid.
Rising ocean acidity has direct impacts and degradation effects on calcifying organisms such as oysters, corals, and sea butterflies, as they struggle to build and maintain their shells and skeletons, even causing them to dissolve as they are made of calcium carbonate. This leads to massive economic losses, as many niche industries rely on shellfish and other marine products. It also influences food chains and the entire food web, negatively affecting fisheries and other marine resources and disrupting marine ecosystems in general through chemical change.
Talking about overfishing and destructive practices that lead to marine desertification, we mean overfishing and the depletion of fish stocks, which disrupts food chains and leads to excessive algal blooms, depleting oxygen and suffocating sensitive ecosystems. We also refer to bycatch, which includes the capture of non-target species such as sea turtles and sharks, which are caught accidentally and contribute to the overall loss of biodiversity.
Fishing methods undoubtedly play a significant negative role. For example, dynamite fishing is used to stun and kill fish, destroying the physical structure of coral reefs. Bottom trawling also destroys benthic habitats, including corals and sponges, resulting in environmental and economic losses.
In general, these practices lead to habitat degradation, loss of Marine Biodiversity, negatively impact food webs and chains, disrupt ecosystem functions, accelerate ecological change, and ultimately lead to ocean desertification.
Actually, Marine Desertification is a serious and intensifying problem, characterized by the expansion of nutrient-poor, low-biodiversity ocean areas, nearly doubled from 2.4% to 4.5% of the global ocean between the early 2000s and 2025. Some scientists even predict that the world's warmest oceans may gradually transform through climate-driven change into semi-arid or dry marine deserts, impacting species, life, causing severe degradation, and threatening the sustainable use of marine resources.
Many solutions can be implemented to combat marine desertification, including, but not limited to, initiatives supported by maritime training courses UK to equip professionals with the skills needed for sustainable marine management:
Absolutely yes! AI applications can be very useful in combating marine desertification. Artificial intelligence can analyze massive amounts of data collected using remote sensing techniques. It can then leverage machine learning algorithms to detect marine pollutants, for example, and identify their types, response patterns, and effective methods. It can also predict changes related to climate, ocean temperature, acidity, and ocean currents, helping specialists understand and anticipate their environmental impacts. AI also uses algorithms to analyze acoustic and visual data collected by underwater sensors, enabling it to monitor marine species and their habitats, assess biodiversity and ecosystem health, and map habitats.
By analyzing massive amounts of data, AI can, of course, predict overfishing, as well as the methods used that could negatively impact food chains and ecosystems.
This all leads to future visions for marine ecosystems, innovative projects, and developing more effective tools to combat marine desertification, supported by trained professionals through programs like maritime logistics courses, who apply AI insights to practical marine management.
While the term "Marine Desertification" is not widely common YET, the underlying concept points to an ecological crisis. It is a process of severe and possibly permanent loss of marine ecosystem productivity and functionality, considered largely irreversible, though some functions can recover, but degradation may persist despite sustainable projects and strong interventions.
The LMA remains committed to raising awareness and supporting investigation, projects, and activities that address desertification in oceans and on land.
