California Academy of Sciences: An international research team develops a rubric for governments and policy making bodies to evaluate preparedness for ocean acidification.
In a paper published today in the journal Environmental Research Letters, an international research team composed of scientists affiliated with more than a dozen institutions, including the California Academy of Sciences, propose a first-of-its-kind framework for governments around the world to evaluate their preparedness for — and guide future policies to address — ocean acidification, among the most dire threats to marine ecosystems.
Ocean acidification is one of climate change’s silent killers,” says Rebecca Albright, PhD, Academy Curator of Invertebrate Zoology and founder of the Coral Regeneration Lab (CoRL). “While not as high-profile as threats like coral bleaching, ocean acidification will cause widespread destruction of marine environments by the end of this decade if we don’t take urgent action. To help policymakers identify what actions they should take, my collaborators and I asked ourselves, ‘What would a government have to do in order to have a comprehensive plan to safeguard both the environment and society from ocean acidification?'”
California Academy of Sciences (via ScienceDaily), 28 March 2023. Press release.