Joint seminar with the Delegation of the EU Commission, the Swedish Agency for Growth Policy Analysis and American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS).

Oceans provide a number of services that are vital to human life, giving sustenance to over a billion people as well as regulating global carbon and water cycles. Scientific findings increasingly signal the potentially adverse affects that climate change may have on these services. Oceans work to regulate climate by absorbing excess carbon dioxide, which, in the process, make seawater more acidic. Marine ecosystems, many of which are already vulnerable due to over-fishing and polluted coastal run-off, are under increased pressure by these changes. This panel will explore how humans and marine organisms can adapt to accommodate changing oceans, specifically:

What evidence is there of adaptability of marine ecosystems?
Are there management strategies to help key species adapt?
What additional services might be provided by the species that thrive in a more acidic ocean?

Context: James McCarthy, Professor of Biological Oceanography, Harvard University, and Chairman of the Board, AAAS

Panel: Keith Brander, Senior Research Scientist, DTU Aqua – Danish Institute of Aquatic

Resources, Technical University of Denmark (tentative)

Steven Murawski, Director of Scientific Programs and Chief Science Advisor, National Marine Fisheries Service, NOAA