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Workshop summary for policymakers, sixth international workshop bridging the gap between ocean acidification impacts and economic valuation: an interdisciplinary approach to address multiple ocean stressors

Published 14 February 2025 Newsletters and reports , Resources Closed
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In October 2024, the Monaco Scientific Center (CSM) and the Marine Environment Laboratories of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) jointly organized the Sixth International Workshop on Bridging the Gap Between Ocean Acidification Impacts and Economic Valuation: An Interdisciplinary Approach to Address Multiple Ocean Stressors.

This interdisciplinary workshop addressed various environmental stressors to coastal marine ecosystems and their often-compounding impacts to ecosystem services. The overarching goal was to explore the complex interactions between local stressors (pollution, non-indigenous species, plastics, eutrophication) and global stressors (ocean warming, ocean acidification). These stressors do not operate in isolation; instead, they often occur in parallel, which may intensify their impacts on biodiversity, ecosystem services, and human health. These combined challenges hinder progress towards Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including, Life Below Water (SDG 14), Climate Action (SDG 13), Responsible Consumption and Production (SDG 12), Clean Water and Sanitation (SDG 6), No Hunger (SDG 2) and No Poverty (SDG 1). Examining the connections between these multiple stressors provides insights into the economic and societal costs of inaction and potential solutions to address them. This workshop convened an interdisciplinary group of 26 experts from 12 countries, equally distributed between the Global South and North, and included balanced gender representation. Participants formed four working groups to discuss key local stressors (i.e., pollution, plastics, eutrophication, and non-indigenous species) in the context of co-occurring global stressors driven by greenhouse gases emissions (GHGs). The groups identified solutions grounded on research evidence and formulated policy recommendations that reflect the need for an integrated approach to achieve ocean sustainability.

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Ocean climate change and ocean acidification indicators for Ireland’s marine strategy framework directive

Published 27 January 2025 Newsletters and reports Closed
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Oceanographic physical and chemical processes underpin the functioning of marine ecosystems; changes to these marine environmental conditions due to human activity could significantly impact marine life. Monitoring and assessing these processes, and their interplay with biological systems provide insights into the current impacts of climate change and allow us to parameterise models which can help us understand what could happen to marine ecosystems under different climate scenarios. Currently, the monitoring and assessment of ocean climate change is not mandated under any EU legislation. Recent guidance from the European Commission has made recommendations on how Member States could consider climate change within the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) and paves the way for its potential inclusion in this Directive. This report explores how Ireland could integrate climate change into MSFD assessments through linking potential new and existing MSFD indicators with associated Essential Ocean Variables.

Systematic measurements of essential ocean variables underpin our understanding of ocean climate change and ocean acidification. Ireland monitors a number of essential ocean variables through fixed moorings, annual surveys, and sentinel sites. Data collected through these monitoring programmes are included in national, regional, and international assessments and reports, including the Global Carbon Budget. Ireland included thirty-four indicators in their Article 8 assessment in 2024 and current essential ocean variable monitoring data is used to assess some of these indicators. This provides an initial link between MSFD reporting and essential ocean variables and presents a starting point of how climate change could be integrated more in MSFD assessments.

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New York State climate impacts assessment chapter 05: ecosystems

Published 20 December 2024 Newsletters and reports , Science Closed
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The people of New York have long benefited from the state’s diversity of ecosystems, which range from coastal shorelines and wetlands to extensive forests and mountaintop alpine habitat, and from lakes and rivers to greenspaces in heavily populated urban areas. These ecosystems provide key services such as food, water, forest products, flood prevention, carbon storage, climate moderation, recreational opportunities, and other cultural services. This chapter examines how changes in climatic conditions across the state are affecting different types of ecosystems and the services they provide, and considers likely future impacts of projected climate change. The chapter emphasizes how climate change is increasing the vulnerability of ecosystems to existing stressors, such as habitat fragmentation and invasive species, and highlights opportunities for New Yorkers to adapt and build resilience.

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Ocean acidification and biodiversity loss: connecting the dots with data

Published 16 October 2024 Newsletters and reports , Science Closed
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About the report

Ocean acidification and biodiversity loss: Connecting the dots with data is a report written by Economist Impact for Back to Blue, an initiative of Economist Impact and The Nippon Foundation. The purpose of this report is to highlight the need for ocean scientists to prove causal links between ocean acidification (OA) and damage to marine species, and the challenges involved in doing so.

Summary

The world is living through a biodiversity crisis. The rapid pace at which animal and plant species have declined in recent decades has led some experts to declare that another mass extinction is under way. What distinguishes this from previous periods of accelerated biodiversity loss are its causes. Whereas naturally occurring events—some sudden and cataclysmic, others more gradual—were the triggers in pre-historic times, human actions are the root cause of species decline today. They include over-hunting, over-fishing and over-farming, but potentially the most devastating in the long term is climate change brought about by our unrelenting carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions.

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The impacts of emissions-induced climate change are readily evident in the world’s oceans, perhaps most vividly in the decline of warm water coral reefs caused by warming. Excess CO2 emissions—more than the oceans can safely absorb—are putting many other marine species under direct threat, such as several forms of plankton and shellfish. Those excess emissions also cause ocean acidification (OA), which changes seawater chemistry in ways that make it difficult for many organisms to survive or thrive.

Scientists understand the malign connection between OA and changes to ocean chemistry and biological processes. Many have highlighted the biodiversity loss that will result from OA, and the follow-on harm it will cause to marine ecosystems and the communities that rely on them for food and livelihoods. Policymakers and international organisations are generally aware of the threat that OA poses. The UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) has mandated member countries to actively combat it, and many are putting action plans in place for that purpose. At national, regional and local levels, however, where action is most vital, competing priorities too often deprive those plans of resources and impetus.

Ocean experts advocating for action against OA worry that their efforts are not creating sufficient urgency among policymakers. OA’s effects are not easy to see, unlike other manifestations of climate change. Therefore, scientists are seeking to provide incontrovertible evidence by demonstrating causality between OA and species decline. Doing so will perform another service: making it easier to determine whether OA is or is not the major stressor on marine life in specific environments, reducing the chances that remedial actions are misdirected and cause unintended harm.

Proving causality cannot be done through laboratory research alone. It requires extensive data gathering in the field, where OA’s impact on organisms can be observed in real (not simulated) environments. It also demands much closer co-ordination between researchers monitoring ocean chemistry and those monitoring biological processes— activities that thus far have been unconnected. Although decades of data gathering may be needed before some correlations are proven, the ocean experts pressing for a new approach to research believe many correlations will become manifest in the next few years.

This report discusses how current ocean research approaches can be adapted to yield such correlations. And while decades may be required for some findings to be confirmed, the report also highlights opportunities to demonstrate causality today—environments where the impacts on biodiversity can be viewed in isolation from other stressors. When it comes to prodding policymakers into action, such results could bear fruit sooner rather than later.

Key takeaways

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Back to Blue Initiative, September 2024. Report.

Ocean State Report 8

Published 15 October 2024 Newsletters and reports , Web sites and blogs Closed

About the Copernicus Ocean State Report

The Ocean State Report is an annual publication of the Copernicus Marine Service, implemented by Mercator Ocean International, which provides a global overview on ocean climate and ocean health for scientists, policymakers, the blue business community and the general public. The goal of the Ocean State Report is to provide reliable and scientifically-assured information, drawing on data from the 1970s to the present. The OSR 8 has been established under international scientific collaboration, with contributions from over 120 participants.

The 8th issue of the EU Copernicus Ocean State Report (OSR 8) is now available online, published alongside an interactive Summary detailing key aspects of the report for policymakers, members of the blue economy and the general public. This year’s report reveals — among many findings — an ocean facing record-breaking extreme events, including deep and intense marine heatwaves, unexpected phytoplankton blooms, as well as increased ocean warming.

Download the OSR8 Summary

The Ocean State Report 8: a reference for the ocean

The OSR 8 is a flagship report, which provides a comprehensive overview of the current state, ongoing trends and natural variations of the ocean. It is published each year by the Copernicus Marine Service and implemented by Mercator Ocean International. Beyond highlighting major results, the Summary showcases a range of Ocean Monitoring Indicators which monitor trends and variations in the changing ocean. These are updated and scientifically discussed in a new Chapter 1 “The State of the Ocean” in the OSR 8, which provides an overview of the current state of the global ocean. It details extreme events in Europe and around the world, explains key ocean processes and how they interact with the global climate, and highlights several innovations and technologies helping us to monitor the ocean and live in harmony with it.

The Summary is split into three main sections:

  • The State of The Ocean;
  • Ocean-Climate Interactions;
  • and Ocean & Society: Innovations.

Throughout the Summary, coloured icons set the context of the findings for the Blue Ocean (physical state), Green Ocean (biological and biogeochemical state), and White Ocean (sea ice).

State-of-the-art scientific findings

The OSR 8 is the culmination of a significant international scientific endeavour, involving over 120 experts from institutions across Europe and around the world. The findings pass through an independent process of peer review in collaboration with the scientific journal State of the Planet, and are supported by satellite observations, in situ measurements and state-of-the art computer modelling.

Go to the Full OSR8

The state of the ocean

The OSR 8 explores the state of the ocean over recent decades, with a specific focus on 2022 and 2023. Among others findings, it reports an ocean characterised by increased warming, melting sea ice, widespread and intensifying marine heatwaves, and an extreme phytoplankton bloom.

The coastal waters around the Balearic Islands reached 29.2ºC in August 2022. This record-breaking temperature was the highest reached in this region for forty years. Other records were broken in the Iberian-Biscay-Ireland region in 2022, where marine heatwaves — temporary, prolonged, and anomalously warm water events — lasted 145 days on average, with temperatures reaching 6°C higher than normal.

As detailed in the OSR 8, heightened temperatures are being seen around the world. 

  • In 2023, 22% of the global ocean surface experienced at least one severe to extreme marine heatwave event. 
  • In 2022, nearly two-thirds of the Baltic Sea suffered marine heatwaves, while in the summer and autumn temperatures were the third warmest since 1997.

In the Mediterranean sea, marine heatwaves in 2022 stretched down through the water column, reaching depths of up to 1,500m below the surface. While marine heatwaves were found to be more frequent at the surface, higher temperatures which lasted for longer appeared below 150m.

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Continue reading ‘Ocean State Report 8’

New edition of the “OA-ICC Highlights” Oct 2023 – May 2024

Published 25 June 2024 Newsletters and reports Closed

This new edition of the OA-ICC Highlights covers the main activities and events taken up by the project from the end of last year up until May of 2024. Including a virtual symposium during GOA-ON’s OA week 2023, the second edition of the GOOD-OARS-CLAP-COPAS International Summer School in Chile, a Workshop on Communicating Ocean Acidification in Costa Rica, the final meeting of a coordinated research project on “Evaluating the Impacts of Ocean Acidification on Seafood – A Global Approach”, the OA-ICC’s contribution to COP28 in Dubai, the OA-ICC’s contributions to multiple Monaco Ocean Week 2024 events, and finally the OA-ICC’s contributions to the UN Ocean Decade Conference in Barcelona. This edition also includes changes in OA-ICC staff as well as the upcoming OA-ICC events for 2024.

Previous editions of the “OA-ICC Highlights” can be viewed here.

OA-ICC, 3 July 2024. Newsletter.

National strategy for a sustainable ocean economy

Published 10 June 2024 Newsletters and reports , Science Closed
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Objective 2: Reduce threats from impacts of climate change, ocean acidification, overfishing, habitat loss, and pollution Climate change, ocean acidification, and pollution such as marine debris and toxic pollution have far-reaching and interconnected impacts on ocean ecosystems. Rising sea levels and warming waters, compounded by the effects of nutrient run-off, plastic pollution, and other stressors, threaten marine habitats and the economies they support. Investments in research, monitoring, observation, and international cooperation will facilitate science-based decision-making to address the individual and synergistic effects of threats such as hypoxia, marine debris, harmful algal blooms (HABs), and underwater noise pollution. Key Opportunities for Action:

  • Track and model shifting habitat and species compositions to plan for future
    conditions and inform sustainable management of vulnerable ecosystems and fisheries. Resources such as the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Climate, Ecosystems, and Fisheries Initiative70 can provide decision makers with climate informed advice and improve predictive capacity relative to regional climate trends.
  • Advance understanding of ocean acidification through research and monitoring, as outlined in the U.S. Ocean Acidification Action Plan71 developed by the United States as a member of the International Alliance to Combat Ocean Acidification.72
  • Detect, monitor, assess, and mitigate the development of HABs and their toxins through a combination of field observations, models, and satellite technology to provide early warnings and forecasts to guide management decisions, such as the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Cyanobacteria Assessment Network Application73 and NOAA’s HAB Forecasting and Monitoring System.74
  • Leverage existing collaborations across Federal government, Tribal Nations, States, Territories, and relevant sectors to address water quality issues in vulnerable and economically important coastal areas, improve monitoring and prediction of nearshore water quality, and reduce and mitigate economic risks and ecosystem impacts of pollutants, hypoxia, and HABs.75
  • Prevent, reduce, detect, and remove marine debris and plastic pollution through targeted research funding and other strategies, including through interagency coordination as part of the Interagency Policy Committee on Plastic Pollution and a Circular Economy,76 to promote innovation and improve domestic infrastructure for waste management and mitigation.

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US Ocean Policy Committee, 2024. National strategy for a sustainable ocean economy. Article.

Turning the tide: ocean climate action next steps

Published 7 June 2024 Newsletters and reports , Press releases Closed

Ahead of World Oceans Day 2024 on June 8, the Center for the Blue Economy in partnership with more than 60 marine and environmental organizations released a report highlighting the Biden Administration’s leadership on ocean climate action and key next steps.

The progress report, entitled “Turning the Tide: Biden Administration Leadership on Ocean Climate Action & Recommended Next Steps,” urges action in 10 key areas:

Continue reading ‘Turning the tide: ocean climate action next steps’

State of the Ocean Report 2024

Published 6 June 2024 Newsletters and reports , Science Closed

Read the report.

The UNESCO State of the Ocean Report offers insights on ocean-related scientific activities and analyses describing the current and future state of the ocean.


Discover the State of the Ocean Report 2024

The State of the Ocean Report has the ambition to inform policymakers about the state of the ocean and to stimulate research and policy actions towards ‘the ocean we need for the future we want’, contributing to the 2030 Agenda and in particular SDG 14, as well as other global processes such as the UNFCCC, the Convention on Biological Diversity and the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction.

Structured around the seven UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development Outcomes, the Report provides important information about the achievement of the UN Ocean Decade objectives and, in the longer term, about ocean well-being.

More than 100 authors from 28 countries contributed to the Report. The different sections provide insights on ocean-related scientific activities and analyses describing the current and future state of the ocean, addressing physical, chemical, ecological, socio-economic and governance aspects.

Continue reading ‘State of the Ocean Report 2024’

Ocean acidification: a roadmap for progress at the World Ocean Summit

Published 2 May 2024 Newsletters and reports Closed

In 2024, the World Ocean Summit returned to Lisbon for its 11th year, bringing together a cross-section of global stakeholders to discuss how to continue building an ocean economy that supports conservation and sustainable use of the marine environment. Our summary report crystallises the key insights from panel sessions supported by Back to Blue, an ocean initiative led by Economist Impact and The Nippon Foundation. These sessions looked at the rise and impact of ocean acidification, and the most promising means to combat the crisis, and looked ahead to the next phase of “A Global Ocean Free from the Harmful Impacts of Pollution: Roadmap for Action”, an ambitious vision set out by the Back to Blue initiative.

Our summary report crystallises the key insights from panel sessions supported by Back to Blue, an ocean initiative led by Economist Impact and The Nippon Foundation.

Continue reading ‘Ocean acidification: a roadmap for progress at the World Ocean Summit’

Policy brief: Ocean acidification poses another threat to the Baltic Sea ecosystem

Published 9 February 2024 Newsletters and reports Closed

In the coming decades, ocean acidification is expected to become significant also in the Baltic Sea. For an already stressed ecosystem, it represents an additional pressure, and the cumulative effect of this and other environmental impacts can stress species and reduce biodiversity. Protecting the unique environment and future food production requires both significant reductions in carbon dioxide emissions and measures against eutrophication, overfishing and emissions of hazardous substances.

Recommendations

  • Increase efforts to meet the carbon emission targets agreed at global and EU level.
  • Accelerate action to reduce nutrient inputs from land and thus eutrophication, overfishing and emissions of hazardous substances.
  • Promote a national and international ban on the discharge of scrubber washwater into the sea, which can cause severe acidification locally, and encourage the development of alternative fuels.
  • Extend the acidification monitoring programmes in both space and time on a resolution that is relevant for species and ecosystems, and combine with biological observations.
  • Promote biological research on Baltic species and ecosystems to evaluate their sensitivity to ocean acidification in combination with other local drivers.
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Code Blue: our oceans in crisis

Published 23 November 2023 Newsletters and reports , Science Closed
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In Australia, our love of the ocean is truly profound – most of us live near the coast, we surf it, camp by it, we marvel at its incredible beauty from its many pristine sandy shores and we are proud of the unique and wondrous sea life that inhabits it.

Our oceans are in trouble. As our climate changes, driven by the unchecked burning of fossil fuels, our seas are transforming before our eyes. Marine heatwaves are surging, coral reefs are on the brink, ice
sheets are melting at an alarming rate, currents are slowing and seas are rising. Put simply: the climate crisis is an ocean crisis.

The ocean is the beating heart of planet Earth, and the lifeblood for all humanity. It produces over half the oxygen we breathe. Its currents regulate our climate and weather. The marine life within it provides sustenance for billions. Our cultures, economies and very identity are tied to the sea.

We have pushed this wondrous, life-giving system to the brink by burning coal, oil and gas. More than 90 percent of the heat trapped by greenhouse gas emissions has been absorbed by the ocean. Parts of the ocean could reach a near-permanent heatwave state within decades.

Our iconic Great Barrier Reef may soon face annual mass coral bleaching. Entire island nations like Tuvalu and Kiribati could become uninhabitable this century as seas rise.

The ocean is a vital carbon sink, absorbing more than 30 percent of the carbon dioxide that humans emit by burning fossil fuels and clearing land. This has changed the chemical make-up of the entire ocean,
making it more acidic.

By absorbing excess heat, and carbon, the ocean has shielded us from the worst of climate change so far. But we are now seeing the consequences of its sacrifice. The climate crisis is no longer a far-off threat. The ocean is screaming a warning that cannot be ignored.

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Continue reading ‘Code Blue: our oceans in crisis’

Ocean acidification: time for action

Published 21 November 2023 Newsletters and reports , Web sites and blogs Closed
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The role of action plans in tackling a mounting ocean crisis

INTRODUCTION

The world is waking up to the threat that ocean acidification (OA)—a rise in the acidity of seawater caused by excess carbon dioxide entering it from the atmosphere—poses to marine ecosystems and to the coastal economies that depend on them. Since OA’s damaging effects on shellfish were first documented 15 years ago, research organisations have mobilised to collect, on an ongoing basis, huge volumes of OA-related data from the world’s oceans. Based on those data, as well as data gathered in coastal areas, scientists have published a wealth of studies examining the causes and effects of OA.

Environmental advocacy groups championing ocean health, charitable foundations and intergovernmental organisations have built on this work to raise global awareness of OA, fund wider research into it and prod governments around the world to take concrete actions to combat it.

Pacific pioneers: Setting the global standard for OA

National action plans are highly desirable, but it is state governments on the US Pacific coast that have set the standard of OA action for the rest of the world to follow.

Governments, however, have been slow to rise to this challenge. Although many have voiced concerns about OA and expressed an intention to fight it through international mechanisms, at the time of writing less than a dozen have published dedicated action plans. These document specific measures governments will take—or are taking—to advance understanding and the domestic response to OA.

The experts we interviewed for this report are strong advocates for OA action plans. Measures to address OA have a vital place in wider climate change and other marine management initiatives, but a dedicated OA plan stands a better chance of cementing the ambition and commitment of a country, region or locality to actively address localised manifestations of OA and turn back the tide. And while some non-government organisations (NGOs) and science institutions have issued OA action plans of their own, none will carry as much weight as those led by governments.

National action plans are highly desirable, but it is state governments on the US Pacific coast that have set the standard of OA action for the rest of the world to follow. It is here that scientists first registered the deadly impacts of OA on marine life and the threat to coastal economies and jobs. That emergency and follow-on research findings led governments in the region to commit unequivocally to combat OA with the help of dedicated, detailed and well-resourced action plans.

In examining governments’ and other entities’ progress on mobilising against OA, this report finds that existing North American action plans offer useful examples and insights for other jurisdictions. Far from all governments will be able to base their plans on the same depth of research or call on the same resources to draft them. But by including in their plans elements such as a vision of success, timelines, assignment of ownership, and a mandate for periodic review and updating, governments can call upon more resources and put their OA action plans on a firm footing.

WHY ACTION IS VITAL

Ocean acidification is a growing threat to many forms of marine life and to the communities that rely on them for food, jobs and economic wellbeing. OA is a direct result of the growing carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions generated by human activity. Up to 30% of carbon released into the atmosphere each year is absorbed by the ocean, which helps to mitigate global warming. But the ocean’s ability to sequester carbon cannot keep pace with rising emission volumes.1 The result is a decline in the pH level of seawater and a rise in its acidity.

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Report citation: Turner J., Braby C., Findlay H., Widdicombe S., Kobayashi M. & Fujii M., 2023. Ocean acidification: time for action. The role of action plans in tackling a mounting ocean crisis. Back to Blue, Economist Impact, The Nippon Foundation. Report.

Continue reading ‘Ocean acidification: time for action’

New edition of the “OA-ICC Highlights”, May – September 2023

Published 10 November 2023 Newsletters and reports Closed

The new edition of the “OA-ICC Highlights” summarizes the project’s main activities and achievements over the period May – September 2023. This time our newsletter features the participation of the OA-ICC research staff in the 2023 ASLO Aquatic Sciences Meeting, the annual in-person meeting of the Executive Council of the Global ocean Acidification Observing Network (GOA-ON), a technical meeting on adaptation pathways for atoll islands and a training course on “blue carbon” for early-career scientists. Furthermore, a dedicated piece in this issue discusses Ocean Alkalinity Enhancement (OAE) in the context of potential ways to accelerate the ocean’s natural carbon sink.

Previous editions of the “OA-ICC Highlights”can be viewed here.

OA-ICC, 10 November 2023. Newsletter.

MEASO Summary for Policymakers 2023

Published 3 November 2023 Newsletters and reports Closed

The five-year MEASO process was designed following a blueprint similar to that of an Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) working group. MEASO serves as a Southern Ocean equivalent of an IPCC report, offering a simplified and concise summary of scientific findings to educate global policymakers. The 2023 report’s release was timed to align with the international CCAMLR meeting in Hobart. […]

MEASO, the Marine Ecosystem Assessment for the Southern Ocean, is a pioneering and collaborative initiative launched in 2018. It involves more than 200 scientists from 19 countries, with diverse representation, striving to comprehensively evaluate the status and changes in Southern Ocean ecosystems and the underlying factors driving these transformations. 24 research articles were published in a special research topic in the journal ‘Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution’. MEASO is a key component of the Integrating Climate and Ecosystem Dynamics in the Southern Ocean (ICED) program, which falls under the umbrella of Integrated Marine Biosphere Research (IMBeR), jointly operated by the Scientific Committee on Oceanic Research (SCOR) and Future Earth. Furthermore, it enjoys the support of the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR) and the Southern Ocean Observing System (SOOS). The MEASO initiative serves as a valuable resource for policymakers, scientists, and the general public interested in the Southern Ocean’s ecological well-being and its ever-changing dynamics.

Continue reading ‘MEASO Summary for Policymakers 2023’

Model development to assess carbon fluxes during shell formation in blue mussels

Published 28 July 2023 Newsletters and reports , Science Closed
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In order to quantify the amount of carbonate, precipitated as calcium-carbonate in the shells of blue mussel (Mytilus edulis) in a temperate climate, an existing Dynamic Energy Budget (DEB) model for the blue mussel was adapted by separating shell growth from soft tissue growth. Hereby, two parameters were added to the original DEB-model, a calcification cost [J/mgCaCO3] and an energy allocation fraction [-], which resulted in the energy allocated for structural growth being divided between shell and meat growth. As values for these new parameters were lacking, they were calibrated by fitting the model to field data. Calibration results showed that an Energy allocation fraction of 0.5 and a calcification cost of 0.9 J/mgCaCO3, resulted in the best fit when fitted on 2017 and 2018 field data separately. These values however, show the best fit for data obtained within the first couple of years of the shellfish life, and do not take later years into account. Also it could be discussed that some parameters vary throughout the lifespan of the species. The results were compared to a regular DEB model, where the shell output was calculated through a simple allometric relationship. It is sometimes assumed that the carbon storage in shell material as calcium carbonate could be regarded as a form of carbon sequestration, with a positive impact on the atmospheric CO2 concentrations. However, studies on the physical-chemical processes related to shell formation have shown that from an oceanographic perspective, shell formation should be regarded as a source of atmospheric CO2 rather than a sink. The removal of carbonates, through the biocalcification process, reduces the buffer capacity (alkalinity) of the water to store CO2. As a result CO2 is released from the water to the atmosphere when shell material is formed. The actual amount of CO2 that escapes from the water to the atmosphere as a result of biocalcification depends strongly on local water characteristics. In this study, the effect of calcification by mussels on the CO2 flux to the atmosphere is studied using an adapted DEB model where energy costs of calcification are modelled explicitly. The model was subsequently run under two future climate scenarios, (RCP 4.5 and RCP 8.3) with elevated temperature and decreased pH, and the total released CO2 as a result of shell formation was calculated with the SeaCarb model. This showed growth of mussels, under future climate conditions to be slower, and with that the cumulative shell mass and carbonate precipitated to CaCO3 to decrease. Yet the amount of CO2 released, due to biocalcification, increased. This is due to the fact that the amount of CO2 released/gr of CaCO3 precipitated will be higher, as a result of the decreased buffering capacity of seawater under future climatic environmental conditions.

In summary the conclusions of the project were:

  • Biocalcification (shell formation) of marine organisms, such as bivalves, cannot be regarded as a process resulting in negative CO2 emission to the atmosphere;
  • The actual amount of CO2 that, due to biocalcification, is released from the water to the atmosphere depends on the physicochemical characteristics of the water, which are influenced by (future) climate conditions;
  • Our first model calculations suggest that at future climate conditions mussel’s grow rate will be somewhat reduced. While the amount of CO2 that due to biocalcification, escapes to the atmosphere during its life-time will slightly increase. Making the ratio of g CO2 release/g CaCO3 precipitated slightly higher;
  • Our model calculations should be considered an exercise rather than a definite prediction of how mussels will respond to future climate scenarios. Additional information/experimentation is strongly needed to validate the model settings, and to test the validity of the above mentioned outcome of the model.
Continue reading ‘Model development to assess carbon fluxes during shell formation in blue mussels’

Chapter 4: ocean chemistry – Irish Ocean Climate And Ecosystem Status Report 2023

Published 12 May 2023 Newsletters and reports Closed
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Carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions to the atmosphere have increased inexorably since the industrial revolution, due to fossil fuel combustion, cement production and land-use change. This has resulted in an average global atmospheric partial pressure of CO2 of ~ 415.7 +/- 0.2 ppm in 2021, which is 149% of preindustrial levels (WMO 2022). Today’s atmospheric CO2 levels would likely be much higher, had the oceans not absorbed about one quarter to one third of the total anthropogenic CO2 emissions (IPCC, 2019; Bindoff et al., 2019). Increasing carbon dioxide in the Earth’s atmosphere results in changes to ocean chemistry, which impact marine life. The uptake of CO2 in the oceans has caused the ocean to become more acidic due to the increase of protons (H+ ions) as a result of reactions of CO2 with the surrounding seawater. This change is measured using the (logarithmic) pH scale and the process is known as ocean acidification (OA).

Not only is the pH of seawater decreasing with ocean acidification, the carbonate ion concentration (CO3 2-) is decreasing at the same time, which particularly affects calcifying organisms. The two most common forms of calcium carbonate used by calcifying organisms to produce their shells and skeletons are aragonite and calcite. Calcifying organisms such as bivalves and corals will find it particularly difficult to build their protective hard parts when CO3 2- is diminishing. In addition, the ocean depths below which aragonite and calcite tend to dissolve is getting shallower. The aragonite saturation horizon (ASH) has already shoaled by 80–400 m in the North Atlantic since pre-industrial times (Feely et al., 2004; Tanhua et al., 2007) and is projected to rise further from 2600 m to as shallow as 200 m depth by the end of the century (Orr et al., 2005). Benthic deep-sea ecosystems such as cold-water coral reefs that currently live in supersaturated waters with respect to aragonite are projected to be exposed to aragonite undersaturation by the end of the century due to OA (about 70% of known habitats, Guinotte et al., 2006; Zheng and Cao, 2015).

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Continue reading ‘Chapter 4: ocean chemistry – Irish Ocean Climate And Ecosystem Status Report 2023’

New edition of the “OA-ICC Highlights”, December 2022 – April 2023

Published 11 May 2023 Newsletters and reports , Science Closed

The new edition of the “OA-ICC Highlights” summarizes the project’s main activities and achievements over the period December 2022 – April 2023. This time our newsletter features a Technical Meeting on Meta-Analyses Using the Ocean Acidification International Coordination Centre (OA-ICC) Bibliographic Database and Other Data Resources, a Consultancy Meeting of the SCOR-COBS Working Group and a Technical Meeting on Ocean Acidification for Scientists from the Mediterranean Region (GOA-ON OA Med-Hub). A novelty of this edition is the “Under the lens” section that aims to showcase the use of nuclear and isotopic techniques in ocean acidification research conducted at the IAEA Marine Environment Laboratories in Monaco.

Previous editions of the “OA-ICC Highlights”can be viewed here.

OA-ICC, 11 May 2023. Newsletter.

Applications of ecosystem risk assessment in federal fisheries to advance ecosystem-based fisheries management

Published 11 May 2023 Newsletters and reports Closed
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Executive Summary

Managing U.S. federal fisheries often requires considering complex interactions among fisheries, protected species, habitats, and other ecosystem components, including humans and climate. In addition, management that focuses on individual species can experience undesirable and unexpected changes due to unaccounted for impacts of climate or other ecosystem factors. Regional fishery management councils (Councils) need ways to efficiently process these interactions and the potential impacts they may have on meeting Council management objectives. One tool that can help with this is the ecosystem-level risk assessment (ERA), also called ecological risk assessments or vulnerability assessments. ERAs are management decision tools that can assist Councils in integrating large amounts of ecosystem information in a standardized, yet flexible and transparent way to help identify issues to prioritize in science or management. The purpose of this document is to share applied results from five regional case studies of ERA. The case studies cover different geographies illustrate how Councils can systematically approach ERA to help address current challenges and advance ecosystem-based fisheries management. To demonstrate the versatility of this tool, we organized the case studies by three different applications in the adaptive fishery management process: screening, prioritization, and evaluation. We emphasized broader ERAs that analyzed a number of different ecosystem drivers in one assessment. To improve the process of incorporating ecosystem information into fishery management decisions, we summarize key takeaways from the case studies. Finally, we provide additional recommendations for optimizing ERA use at the end of this report.

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The NOAA ocean acidification program 2023 community meeting summary report

Published 21 April 2023 Newsletters and reports , Program , Science Closed


From January 4-6, 2023 the NOAA Ocean Acidification Program (OAP) convened the OAP Community Meeting at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in La Jolla, CA. This tri-annual meeting, recently renamed as the OAP Community Meeting, was restructured from previous years in order to create a more inclusive environment; the meeting was open to all those interested in ocean acidification (OA) research. The goals of the meeting were: 1) to shape the future strategic direction of OAP; 2) to inform community members of recent OAP-supported efforts, 3) to foster collaborations within the OA research community; 4) to identify critical research gaps and efforts to address them; and 5) to highlight and discuss diversity, equity, inclusion, accessibility, and justice in the OA research community. These goals were represented throughout the agenda, which included topical topical sessions, panel discussions, and working lunches (the participant agenda can be accessed here; see Appendix I).

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