Date: 13 September 2018
Time: 7:30 am -10:30 am
Location: San Francisco Aquarium of the Bay
Event Details: Ocean acidity has increased by 30 percent and is expected to double over pre-industrial levels by the end of this century, as the ocean absorbs one-third of the carbon dioxide generated by human activities. Extensive field studies conducted worldwide already show significant impacts on fisheries and marine ecosystems from ocean acidification, which will worsen in the future.
To avert a larger crisis, the science is clear that we must act immediately to reduce carbon emissions. In 2015, 195 countries signed the historic Climate Agreement in Paris committing to meaningful action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
The International Alliance to Combat Ocean Acidification (OA Alliance) is building on this momentum by taking actions to protect the health of the oceans and address the impacts of ocean acidification on our economies and coastal communities.
The OA Alliance affiliate event- co-hosted in partnership with the Ocean Conservancy- will convene national, subnational and civil society leaders on ocean acidification who are working together to highlight the critical need for reducing carbon emissions and implementing actionable steps that support coastal communities impacted by changing ocean conditions through the creation of OA Action Plans.
Global Climate Action Summit delegates will announce their commitment to join the OA Alliance and address ocean acidification and other changing ocean conditions within their regions and across climate agreement frameworks.
Hear from OA Alliance leadership including:
- California Secretary for Natural Resources, John Laird
- United Nations Ocean Envoy, Peter Thomson
- Governor of Washington State, Jay Inslee (invited)
- French Minister of Ecological and Social Transition, Nicolas Hulot
- Mayor of Vancouver British Columbia, Gregor Robertson (invited)
The sincerity and urgency of this post is beyond doubt, but the vocabulary should be updated to match the deepening knowledge which we have of ocean acidification. It is not enough to call now for reductions in emissions: these could never suffice, as the ongoing overload of CO2 in the atmosphere, and hence in the ocean, would continue. It is the concentrations, the sheer weight, of CO2 in the atmosphere which is so drastically lowering ocean-wide pH. The better claim would be for reductions in CONCENTRATIONS! Ideally, down to 280ppm again.