In this podcast Melanie Boylan chats with Manuel Bustelo and Alana Alvarez Vernice about their ongoing mission to highlight ocean acidification. Listen in to find out how you can help to make everyday changes to improve our planets oceans.
The Sustainable Tour is DAN EU’s project to raise awareness of the need to drastically reduce our CO2 emissions if we want to maintain a healthy ocean. Manu and Alana are touring Europe and its surroundings (UK and Ireland in 2022) in an electric vehicle – recharging it only with renewable energy – visiting dive centres and other interested parties to give lectures on ocean acidification.
In a series of short video interviews, the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation together with its partners in The Polar Initiative – SCAR, IASC and the Oceanographic Institute of Monaco – invited polar scientists and specialists to give a voice to polar regions, calling for a greater protection of Arctic and Antarctic regions and for shedding a light on the benefit they represent for the Planet and Humanity.
Richard Bellerby, Director SKLEC-NIVA Centre for Marine and Coastal Climate Research, states that “ocean acidification is one of the biggest challenges that we have to date (…), that will cause the local if not total extinction of some crucial species within the ocean.” According to him, “we have get the message out”, to the media and to the general public, as it is happening faster than ever before.
In this episode of This Is CDR, OpenAir welcomes NOAA Research Oceanographer Dr. Jessica Cross to discuss the challenges associated with measurement, reporting, and verification (MRV) of ocean-based CDR methods, and how we can seek to address them in a climate-relevant time-frame.
Dr. Jessica N. Cross is a research oceanographer with the NOAA in Seattle, WA. Her current research focuses on carbon biogeochemistry and ocean acidification in Arctic regions, and especially along the Alaskan coast. The main goal is to better understand how acidification processes interact with natural biogeochemical cycles, and eventually to detect geochemical and biological impacts of acidification in marine systems. Dr. Cross conducts her research across a variety of platforms, including ship-based measurements, moorings, and mobile autonomous platforms like gliders and drones, through NOAA’s Innovative Technology for Arctic Exploration Program. She also broadly participates in the Arctic research community through the North American Carbon Program, the Ocean Carbon Biogeochemistry Program, the Pacific Arctic Group, and the Interagency Research Policy Committee collaboration teams.
Sustainability has a molecular basis that suggests a central role for chemistry in addressing today’s challenges to Earth and societal systems, and this role requires educators to see chemical reactions and processes as integral parts of dynamic and interconnected systems. Despite this prospect, few accessible resources are available for students and educators to facilitate systems thinking in chemistry for sustainability. We have developed an interactive digital learning tool (https://planetaryboundaries.kcvs.ca) based on the Planetary Boundaries framework, which uses interactive visualizations to help users better understand Earth system sustainability challenges and helps chemists and educators connect substances, reactions, and chemistry concepts to sustainability science. The tool highlights the fundamental role that chemistry plays in regulating the individual biophysical Earth system processes and in determining their control variables. It incorporates key features of a systems thinking framework by illustrating the dynamic interconnections among the processes and their control variables and demonstrates change of the Earth system over time. Finally, the interactive tool provides educators with accessible entry points to support the integration of chemistry curriculum content with sustainability considerations.
Francois Morel, Princeton University, presents “The Effect of Ocean Acidification on Marine Phytoplankton” at the Dreyfus Symposium on Environmental Chemistry. This symposium was held at the national meeting of the American Chemical Society on March 22, 2022.
The International Alliance to Combat Ocean Acidification (OA Alliance) brings together governments and organizations from across the globe dedicated to taking urgent action to protect coastal communities and livelihoods from the threat of ocean acidification and other climate- ocean impacts.
Facilitated through the OA Alliance, national, subnational, regional and tribal governments are proactively responding to the impacts of ocean acidification as they create OA Action Plans to effectively promote solutions and advancing knowledge into action.
The OA Alliance has created this Action Plan Toolkit as a guide. The OA Action Toolkit contains both regulatory and non-regulatory actions that members might consider when crafting their own OA Action. Not all OA Action plans will have the same framework or structure, as there is no “one- size fits all” approach.
Some members may choose to write a stand-alone plan, while others may decide to integrate ocean acidification mitigation, adaptation and resiliency actions across existing Climate Action Plans, Ocean Action Plans, Biodiversity or Resilience Goals and Targets, Nationally Determined Contributions pursuant to the Paris Climate Agreement, or decide to integrate and strengthen actions across other applicable management tools.
Title: Monitoring ocean acidification in Alaska’s marine ecosystem
Speaker: Natalie Monacci, MSc, University of Alaska Fairbanks, College of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences, Ocean Acidification Research Center, Fairbanks, AK
EcoFOCI 2021 Fall Seminar Series
This seminar is part of NOAA EcoFOCI (Ecosystems & Fisheries-Oceanography Coordinated Investigations)’s bi-annual seminar series that are focused on the ecosystems of the North Pacific Ocean, Bering Sea and the US Arctic to improve understanding of ecosystem dynamics and applications of that understanding to the management of living marine resources. EcoFOCI is a joint research program between the Alaska Fisheries Science Center (NOAA/ NMFS/ AFSC) and the Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory (NOAA/ OAR/ PMEL). Visit the EcoFOCI webpage for more information, https://www.ecofoci.noaa.gov/
In this episode of GreenChat we discuss the major causes of ocean acidification, fresh water use and loss of biodiversity that impact sustainability. Co-Hosted by Dr. Suresh Mony and Mr. N Suresh.
On 21 July 2022, Dr. Sylvain Agostini and Dr. James D. Reimer from the International CO2 Natural Analogues (ICONA) Network joined the GOA-ON webinar series to discuss “What natural analogues can teach us about the future of coral communities and their understudied biodiversity.” The talk highlighted natural analogue research focusing on the effects on and resilience of both scleractinian corals and zoantharians to understand adaptation mechanisms that will determine the shape and diversity of future coral communities. ICONA will join the GOA-ON webinar series again in the coming months to discuss natural analogues and fish communities.
A new OARS video launched at the UN Decade Forum featuring the OARS co-leads Dr Jan Newton, Prof Steve Widdicombe, and Kirsten Isensee as well as Dr Libby Jewett, Director of the NOAA Ocean Acidification Program and one of the lead authors of the IPCC 6th Assessment Report. The video highlights the effects of ocean acidification on the marine environment and the actions needed to better understand, adapt and mitigate these effects that OARS will undertake in the next few years. Dr Katy Soapi (The Pacific Community, GOA-ON Pacific Islands and Territories OA Hub co-chair), Dr Sheck Sherif (GOA-ON OA Africa Hub co-chair) and Dr Abed El Rahman Hassoun (GOA-ON Mediterranean OA Hub co-chair) spoke from their regional perspectives and joined the call to all interested researchers, stakeholders and decision makers to join OARS!
The ocean is a critical piece of the climate change puzzle. It’s estimated that the ocean has absorbed about one third of the excess CO2 humans have added to the atmosphere and more than 90% of trapped heat in the atmosphere. So, today, we’re going underwater to talk about the ocean and climate change with renowned marine biologist Dr. Sylvia Earle.
Dr. Sylvia Earle is an Explorer-in-Residence at the National Geographic Society. She is former chief scientist for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and founder of Mission Blue, an organization aimed at restoring health and productivity to the ocean. Dr. Earle has led more than a hundred expeditions, logged over 7,000 hours underwater, and has authored more than 190 scientific, technical, and popular publications.
For more episodes of TILclimate by the MIT Environmental Solutions Initiative, visit tilclimate.mit.edu. For the episode transcription and links to resources mentioned in the episode, visit https://climate.mit.edu/podcasts/til-…
The 2nd seminar of the series will focus on “Atmospheric deposition and ocean biogeochemistry: in situ observation, processes studies and modeling approach”. The seminar was hosted by the Laboratoire d’Océanographie de Villefranche, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique & Sorbonne University, France.
HLPF Side Event: “Leveraging ocean science and innovation for healthy and resilient coastal and marine ecosystems” – 06.07.2022
Working across the linkages of SDGs 14, 13 and 15, the side event organized around multi-stakeholder panels explored how investment and partnerships in research, ocean observations, fit-for-purpose data products and services can empower decision-makers, industry and local communities to conserve and restore ocean ecosystems, address vulnerability and build resilience to climate change.
The event provided an overview of key progress, challenges and opportunities in implementing SDG 14, with a specific focus on ocean acidification and marine scientific capacity applied to ocean management, two targets under IOC-UNESCO’s custodianship. Building on the transformative work of UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development, innovation in ocean observation, technologies and information delivery to support sustainable use and ocean conservation will be highlighted.
The event also focused on empowering local communities to build resilience and protect biodiversity through partnerships in nature-based solutions such as the biosphere reserves and blue carbon approaches.
Episode 166: Did you know that oceans make life possible on our planet? Even if we live far from the coast, our lives are influenced by the ocean. Oceans generate oxygen, capture carbon, shape weather, and provide habitat for countless creatures.
To learn more about these vast, yet fragile bodies of water that make our planet unique, beautiful, and able to support life, I speak with world renowned ocean scientist and explorer Dr. Sylvia Earle.
In this inspirational interview, Sylvia shares her thoughts about what we can do to help our oceans and why urgent action is needed now. We discuss some of the threats that oceans face including acidification due to climate change, industrial fishing, and pollutants.
Sylvia reflects on a lifetime of learning and exploration and shares why she is so positive about the future. She tells us what it’s like to live underwater for weeks at a time, how fish have different personalities, and why Menhaden matter. Sylvia calls upon each of us to be part of the solution and stresses that what we do has an impact. Sylvia believes that we have the power, knowledge, and technology necessary to save our oceans and to honor the living world that makes our existence possible.
Oceans are the most acidic they’ve been in 26,000 years, according to the World Meteorological Organization. That can impact the development of shellfish, like the ones fishermen depend on for income. Joe Raedle/Getty Images
At Whiskey Creek Shellfish Hatchery on the Oregon coast, baby oysters are hatched, raised, then sold to oyster farms throughout the Pacific Northwest.
“Our pumps pump in about 200 gallons a minute of seawater into the hatchery,” said production manager Alan Barton.
The seawater comes in, gets treated and goes into tanks where the oysters are hatched. Barton grows vats of green and brown algae to feed them. Back in 2007, after nearly 30 years of doing this without incident, something started to go wrong.
“Just month after month after every group of larvae dying one after another,” Barton said. Entire crops of baby oysters — normally swimming around — just died.
“We thought the causes were things like bacteria, disease,” he said. So they treated the water for bacteria.
“[In] 2008, with all these sophisticated treatment systems in place, we essentially lost all the larvae in the entire hatchery — $100,000 worth of product — and all just went to the bottom, all within 48 hours or so,” he said.
More acidic water, more problems
The cause, it turned out, was the water itself. More acidic water from deeper in the ocean was upwelling into their water source, driven by seasonal winds.
The lower pH water, meaning it was more acidic, was driving changes in the mineral composition of the water and killing the oyster babies. Deeper water is naturally more acidic than surface water, and upwelling is a natural event. But human-caused emissions are increasing the background level of acidity and appear to have tipped those natural conditions just past what the oyster larvae could bear.
