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Evaluating 145 peer-reviewed studies, a research team has concluded that “highly protected” marine reserves can help mitigate the effects of climate change. “Marine reserves cannot halt or completely offset the growing impacts of climate change,” said Jane Lubchenco, a professor in the College of Science at Oregon State University (OSU) and co-author of the study published recently in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. “But they can make marine ecosystems more resilient to changes and, in some cases, help slow down the rate of climate change.” Around the world, coastal nations have committed to protecting 10% of their waters by 2020, but so far, only 3.5% of the ocean has been set aside for protection, and 1.6%, or less than half of that, is strongly protected from exploitation.