The Town Hall on Ocean Acidification which is titled: Ocean Acidification: Towards an Interagency Approach is being held at the Ocean Sciences Meeting (http://aslo.org/orlando2008/town_hall.html) Tuesday March 4, 2008 from 7:30 to 9:30 in Rm W108.
Ocean Acidification, or the reduction in global oceanic pH caused by rising dissolved CO2 concentrations, is a rapidly emerging issue that has garnered considerable interest from Congress, the scientific community, and coastal managers. Over the next century, ocean acidification is expected to reduce surface ocean pH by 0.3 0.5 units, negatively impacting shell formation for a number of marine organisms and ultimately affecting some of the most fundamental biological and geochemical processes of the sea. In response, a number of US federal agencies (e.g., NOAA, NSF, USGS, NASA) are developing programs to address this critical issue. This town hall forum will be an opportunity for representatives of agencies that support marine research and academic researchers to discuss a vision for a national interagency program on ocean acidification.
Advancing the ocean acidification state-of-knowledge demands a broad range of research, monitoring, and modeling capabilities. Some of these capabilities may be better suited to the mission areas of different agencies. Through cross-agency and international coordination, we can achieve greater efficiency, leverage funding, avoid duplicative efforts, and allow for large-scale joint funding initiatives. Key topics of discussion will be the recent interagency workshop report titled, Impacts of Ocean Acidification on Coral Reefs and Other Marine Calcifiers: A Guide for Future Research and emerging international ocean acidification programs with the European Union (EU), Japan, and Korea.
For more information contact me at Libby.Jewett@noaa.gov
