CalOceans News
Showing all articles with tag: climate change.
Ocean acidification arrives in the Pacific NW
November 21st, 2011According to a recent article by Yale 360, the acidification of our oceans from an excess of carbon dioxide emissions has already begun. A recent die-off of oysters in the Pacific Northwest is a reminder that these changes to ocean conditions will have widespread impacts throughout the ocean food chain and coastal economies.
Scientists in the article called oysters a bellweather, and say this is just a harbinger of things to come if greenhouse gas emissions continue to soar. The fate of today's shellfish is actually dependent on the carbon release from tailpipes and smokestacks in the 1960's and '70s.
Because of the way seawater circulates around the world, the deep water now washing ashore in Oregon and Washington is actually 30 to 50 years old. This time lag is important because oceans absorb about 50 percent of the carbon released by burning fossil fuels, emissions that have been rising dramatically in recent decades.
According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) ocean acidity has increased approximately 30 percent since the Industrial Revolution, and if we continue our current rate of carbon emissions, global oceans could be 150 percent more acidic by the end of the century than they have been for 20 million years.
How will climate change impact the ocean?
May 20th, 2010And what will it mean for the people and industries that rely on this natural resource? These questions are on the minds of scientists, policymakers, and coastal residents that use the ocean for work and play. To learn all about it from some of northern California's ocean experts, attend a seminar sponsored by COMPASS and California Ocean Science Trust:
Who: Dr. Jonathon Stillman, Professor, San Francisco State University, and Dr. Amber Mace, Executive Director, CA Ocean Protection Council
When: June 3rd in Eureka and June 4 in Fort Bragg
7:30-9:00pm and refreshments will be served
Where: Humboldt Bay Aquatics Center, 921 Waterfront Drive, Eureka
St. Michael’s Episcopal Church, Larsen Hall, Corner of Franklin and Fir, Fort Bragg
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