GLOBAL WARMING AND DETERIORATING SEAS SUBJECTS OF MAJOR REPORTS, NEW ARTICLES

Two recent reports have gained world-wide attention in the global media in recent months on the pressing need to act immediately to counteract the potentially devastating consequences of global warming. Both stress the importance of better data to understand the impact of climate change on the oceans.

The recent landmark report released by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) for the first time conclusively links mankind’s role in global warming, and the far-reaching consequences it will have due to melting ice, rising seawater temperatures and extreme weather conditions, amongst other things. The report also included details about another negative effect of greenhouse gases, ocean acidification. Many scientists believe that more than a third of all human-produced carbon dioxide has been absorbed by the oceans. When CO2 dissolves into seawater, it generates carbonic acid, which lowers pH levels. When seawater gets too acidic it hampers shell and coral formation and damages critical marine organisms such as krill and plankton at the base of the marine food chain (see article elsewhere in this Report). Some scientists are now predicting that, due to global warming, by the end of the century the ocean might become more acidic than it has been in the past 10 million years. Knowing the rate of acidification and understanding the changes that can injure or kill sea life is critical to knowing the impact this problem will have on the sea’s productivity, and on mankind.

Another influential report was the recent publication by the Joint Ocean Commissions Initiative that provided a scorecard for how we are doing in protecting the health of the seas. The Joint Ocean Commissions Initiative was formed in the wake of two highly-publicized ocean commissions - one appointed by the White House, another supported by the Pew Charitable Trust - to assess the condition of the sea. Concluding two years ago, both commissions reported nearly identical findings about the deplorable state of the oceans’ health. Following their recent scorecard report, the chairmen of the two ocean commissions, Adm. James Watkins (USN Ret.) and former White House Chief of Staff Leon Panetta, co-authored an OpEd piece for the Washington Post from which the following excerpt is taken:

It's impossible to effectively manage our oceans without the research necessary to fully understand the complex processes of an ocean ecosystem. Nowhere is this more apparent than with climate change. It's no secret that the oceans and climate are deeply linked -- the oceans store vast amounts of energy in the form of heat and are a sink for much of the carbon dioxide emitted over the past century. Yet while sophisticated atmospheric monitoring systems have been in place for decades, only rudimentary systems exist for our oceans. This leaves us trying to fight climate change with one hand tied behind us. The only way to understand and respond to devastating climate change is with important tools such as an Integrated Ocean Observing System, which the administration's new ocean research plan recommended on Jan. 26. Unfortunately, even the best-laid plans to preserve the oceans remain empty rhetoric when Congress and the administration fail to commit the funds necessary for implementation. For the second year in a row, federal funding for oceans was stagnant. The Joint Ocean Commission Initiative estimates that a $750 million investment would be a significant step forward for such research as the integrated observing system and management programs like the Magnuson-Stevens Act. Such an investment would protect an ecosystem that represents 95 percent of the habitable living space on the planet and supports ocean-dependent businesses that generate more than $138 billion each year.

The SeaKeeper 1000® oceanographic monitoring system is particularly valuable in gathering information about climate change and its potential consequences on the sea and its inhabitants. The system’s basic set of sensors monitors important determinants, including: 1) Sea Surface Temperature - accurate to a hundredth of a degree; 2) Salinity Levels - which reflect the introduction of fresh water from melting ice and other sources; and 3) pH - which indicates the levels of CO2 being dissolved. Other optional modular sensors for such things as water clarity and dissolved oxygen can be added and still more instruments to deploy in the SeaKeeper system are being developed by private companies.  Because it tracks these significant factors, more and more scientists are looking at the innovative SeaKeeper 1000 and the data the current network is generating to expand their knowledge in these critical areas.