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Elnur Enveroglu

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As part of the COP29, an informal press conference was held in the press room allocated for the US Embassy in Azerbaijan at the pavilion. Having been attended by journalists, and editors from influential media outlets, the conference was kicked off by the US experts from Washington DC, including Laura Daniel Davis, the Acting Deputy Secretary of the U.S. Department of the Interior, and Rick Spinrad, the Undersecretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere and NOAA Administrator.

At the event, both experts shared their experiences and effective suggestions on climate change, sea and ocean levels, and the relationship between natural disasters and climate, as well as their prevention.

Speaking about her experience in Scotland, Laura Daniel Davis emphasized that COP29 in Baku was organized at a high level, as well as that a number of important issues were discussed by experienced experts within the framework of the climate conference in Baku. The Acting Deputy Secretary of the U.S. Department of the Interior also noted that COP29 plays a leading role in climate action.

During the conference, experts also answered several questions by Azernews in the Q&A session of the conference. Droughts related to the decrease in water levels in the seas in recent times and floods related to the increase in ocean levels have been a major concern in our world. Especially the decrease in water levels in the Caspian Sea in recent years is showing its negative effects on our ecology and overall fauna today. Explaining the technical aspects of the issue, Richard Spinrad, the Undersecretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere and NOAA Administrator, said that despite the efforts of modern technologies, accurate information about the causes of changes in the waters of the seas and oceans has not been obtained in recent times.

“I think part of my answer is improving technology and capabilities to understand not only by how much water levels sea levels are changing but where; and I think one of the most important things we've learned in the last few years is there is not a uniform, homogeneous answer to things like sea level rise or lake changes. We see the same thing in the Great Lakes, for example.”

However, Richard Spinrad noted that many achievements can be achieved as a result of the development of AI.

“We're seeing very variable lake levels. And also building improved forecast capabilities, which means not just having the best observations to, I would say, initialize, to start the model, to put into the model, but also improving the mathematics, if you will, of the model. That's where artificial intelligence comes in.

So I think there's a technology-sharing aspect on both the observational side and the prediction side that can answer the question of how we can work effectively together,” he said.

Reforestation looks a feasible option to prevent sea level rise or floods

In her answer to the question, Laura Daniel Davis, the Acting Deputy Secretary of the U.S. Department of the Interior, touched on their focus areas, including U.S. coastal areas.

One of the major things we've been doing is ensuring that along those areas where we can, we're deploying nature-based solutions and doing replanting of indigenous natural materials, like for example, Florida, sort of rebuilding the mangroves. And that's true in Puerto Rico and other places as well. And that does enhance community resilience,” she said.

Thus, the expert concludes that it is possible to prevent sea floods by afforesting coastal regions and planting more trees. According to Laura D. Davis, it does protect communities. And they also have been able to work with upstream as well as communities in North Carolina. She added that the state has decided it would like to do hardwood reforestation in some areas.

“And as you know, water all flows in the direction of the sea. And so being sure that we're supporting local communities, tribal communities, and they're thinking about how they can bring terrestrial resilience forward as they are thinking about how they can best protect their communities from the kind of sea level rise you're talking about,” she emphasised.

Plastic waste and contaminated sea waters amidst climate calamities

In addition, experts have shed light on the recent increase in the amount of toxic substances and waste discharged into oceans and seas and its impact on the climate.

As is known, the Mediterranean Sea, the North Pacific Ocean and especially the Gulf of Mexico have recently faced serious risks of pollution. These areas have already been listed according to the level of pollution.

Expressing his opinion on the question, Richard Spinrad noted that the problem is caused in particular by plastic waste.

“I think there's a few perspectives on this. There are some elements like marine debris plastics, and the United Nations has been very aggressive in trying to identify protocols, processes and frameworks for limiting the introduction of plastics into the sea.

And I think there's a good framework in place for trying to get at solutions on plastics. However, what we do know about plastics is that it's not just the large mega-plastics. The microplastics are also particularly insidious. And so, part of the answer is getting a better understanding of the consequences to ecosystems of plastics.

On other forms of pollution, I believe one of the most important things we can do is, if you will, get it at the source. Make sure to understand what kinds of sources are responsible for some of the kinds of pollution you alluded to. So, for example, you talked about the Gulf of Mexico.

One of the big challenges we have in the Gulf of Mexico is the annual dead zone,” R. Spinrad noted.

Boosting agriculture: way to minimize pollution in seas and oceans

Referring to the situation in the Gulf of Mexico, Laura Daniel Davis emphasized the importance of developing agriculture in such circumstances.

“Where I was going on the issue of things like a dead zone from pollutants, the answer is to look at agricultural practices, in this case in what we call the bread belt, the middle states in the United States, and understand what agricultural practices could be changed, what fertilization, what irrigation practices might be changed to reduce the input of phosphates and nitrates into the Gulf of Mexico that result in things like harmful algal blooms.

And that means bringing different people to the discussion. Historically, we would not have brought the agriculture community to a discussion about Gulf of Mexico pollution, but now we're having that discussion much more than this. Yeah, and I would just reiterate what Dr. Spinrad is saying about land management practices and the importance of ensuring that you are having those conversations with communities, and state actors in the United States to address pollution that can and is happening in cases there,” she added.