Suchergebnisse

This is the final version. Available on open access from Nature Research via the DOI in this record ; Data availability: Stringency index data are available from the Oxford COVID-19 Government Response Tracker (www.bsg.ox.ac.uk/covidtracker). Raw AIS data are available from SOCIB and exactEarth Ltd. Anonymized and aggregated data from terrestrial AIS are available (https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.12667256). Density maps of satellite AIS were purchased from exactEarth Ltd., are used under license, and cannot be publicly shared by the authors. We make the global difference maps publicly available (https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.12676070). ; Code availability: All analyses were coded in R version 3.6.067. Code which is available from Github at https://github.com/dmarch/covid19-ais and https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.4582712. ; The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in unparalleled global impacts on human mobility. In the ocean, ship-based activities are thought to have been impacted due to severe restrictions on human movements and changes in consumption. Here, we quantify and map global change in marine traffic during the first half of 2020. There were decreases in 70.2% of Exclusive Economic Zones but changes varied spatially and temporally in alignment with confinement measures. Global declines peaked in April, with a reduction in traffic occupancy of 1.4% and decreases found across 54.8% of the sampling units. Passenger vessels presented more marked and longer lasting decreases. A regional assessment in the Western Mediterranean Sea gave further insights regarding the pace of recovery and long-term changes. Our approach provides guidance for large-scale monitoring of the progress and potential effects of COVID-19 on vessel traffic that may subsequently influence the blue economy and ocean health. ; European Union Horizon 2020 ; Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) ; Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra)

The European Union Marine Strategy Framework Directive requires the Good Environmental Status of marine environments in Europe's regional seas; yet, maritime activities, including sources of marine degradation, are diversifying and intensifying in an increasingly globalized world. Marine spatial planning is emerging as a tool for rationalizing competing uses of the marine environment while guarding its quality. A directive guiding the development of such plans by European Union member states is currently being formulated. There is an undeniable need for marine spatial planning. However, we argue that considerable care must be taken with marine spatial planning, as the spatial and temporal scales of maritime activities and of Good Environmental Status may be mismatched. We identify four principles for careful and explicit consideration to align the requirements of the two directives and enable marine spatial planning to support the achievement of Good Environmental Status in Europe's regional seas.