The Pacific Islands Advanced OA Monitoring Workshop was held at the University of Hawai’i at Manoa from 13-17 August 2018, organized by The Ocean Foundation, GOA-ON, and the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Ocean Acidification Program, and funded by the US Department of State and the Swedish International Development Agency. Scientists from the University of Hawai’i at Manoa and NOAA led eleven participants from seven Pacific Island States in a week of hands-on training with the equipment they received in the past year as part of the "GOA-ON in a Box" program. The program grants a set of laboratory and field equipment to chosen applicants, with the long-term goal of expanding carbonate chemistry monitoring and increasing capacity of scientists in developing countries to measure ocean chemistry.
GOA-ON's global collaboration efforts were highlighted in a Nature article by Bates et al., published 15 August 2018. The paper emphasizes the need for ecologists to "understand how marine life responds to changing local conditions, rather than overall global temperature rise". The authors stress the need to measure and model local variability at smaller scales of space and time, the 'ocean weather', which is highly dynamic and very relevant to marine organisms. The article addresses the importance of collaboration, mentioning that "there are some models for [global collaboration]. The Global Ocean Acidification Observing Network (GOA-ON), for instance, is an international effort to provide highly resolved biogeochemical data on the scale of metres, to enable researchers to optimize models of ocean acidification".
IOC-UNESCO Executive Council Welcomes SDG Indicator 14.3.1 Methodology
During its 51st Executive Council Meeting from 3-6 July 2018, the Member States of the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) of UNESCO welcomed the Methodology for the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) Target Indicator 14.3.1 and recommended to the IOC secretary as the custodian agency for this indicator to propose its upgrade from Tier III to Tier II. The SDG Target Indicator 14.3.1 calls for "average marine acidity measured at an agreed suite of representative sampling stations". The Methodology provides guidance to scientists and countries about how to carry out measurements following the best practices established by experts in the ocean acidification community, including GOA-ON members, and explains how to report the collected information.
The IOC Sub-Commission for the Western Pacific (WESTPAC) has announced their 5th Workshop on Research and Monitoring of the Ecological Impacts of Ocean Acidification on Coral Reef Ecosystems, scheduled for 6-7 November 2018 in Xiamen, China. Additionally, a WESTPAC Ocean Acidification Symposium will be held on 5 November preceding the workshop to highlight recent ocean acidification research. The workshop and the science symposium will be hosted by the Third Institute of Oceanography, State Oceanic Administration of China. As a regional hub of GOA-ON, WESTPAC contributes to monitoring ocean acidification and its impacts particularly in coral reef environments, while building capacity in the Western Pacific and its adjacent regions.
The 4th Symposium on the Effects of Climate Change on the World’s Oceans, held on 4-8 June 2018 in Washington DC, USA, included a session entitled "Carbon uptake, ocean acidification, and ecosystems and human impacts." This session included presentations on GOA-ON's efforts, given by several Executive Council members. Ocean acidification research and monitoring was featured prominently at this session and throughout the conference by GOA-ON members. GOA-ON partners helped in supporting the symposium, including the IOC-UNESCO, OA-ICC and NOAA.
GOA-ON Executive Council Holds Annual Meeting in Sopot, Poland
Supported by IOC UNESCO, the GOA-ON Executive Council held its 5th Annual Meeting, 28-30 May 2018 at the Institute of Oceanology of the Polish Academy of Sciences (IO PAN) in Sopot, Poland. During the meeting, the methodology for the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) target indicator 14.3.1 "average marine acidity measured at an agreed suite of representative sampling stations" was reviewed. Additionally, the GOA-ON Executive Council reported on GOA-ON international capacity building activities, received updates from the regional hubs, and welcomed the new GOA-ON Secretariat, among other exciting updates.
Invitation to join the new Ocean Acidification Information Exchange
The Ocean Acidification Information Exchange is a new interactive website catalyzing response to ocean acidification through collaboration. We invite you to join this online conversation! Current members are using the site’s tools to share resources, engage in online discussions, and interact with people in other disciplines and regions to build a well-informed community working to respond and adapt to ocean acidification. Anyone working on or with an interest in ocean acidification can join the OA Information Exchange. The US Interagency Working Group on Ocean Acidification conceived and funds the OA Information Exchange, which is operated by the Northeastern Regional Association of Coastal Ocean Observing Systems.
The Galapagos Islands are a unique natural laboratory where different currents converge, giving origin to an exceptional marine biodiversity. Roca Redonda is an active submarine volcano where CO2 is released through cold vents, simulating the conditions of ocean acidification. The 2018 Galapagos Ocean Acidification School will be held 19-28 August at the Charles Darwin Research Station, Puerto Ayora, Galápagos. Using natural CO2 seeps as experimental units, participants from Latin-American and Caribbean countries will gain knowledge in aspects of ocean acidification research including in-situ sample collection in a CO2 vent, analytical chemistry techniques for carbon system parameters, and the study of benthic community structure under the influence of high CO2 conditions. Applications are due by 4 June 2018.
The next decadal OceanObs conference will be held in Honolulu, Hawaii, USA, on 16-20 September 2019. The themes of this conference encompass advances in ocean acidification observing, and applications to user groups at the global and regional level. The organizers solicit participation in OceanObs’19 especially from underrepresented nations and end-users. GOA-ON will be submitting an abstract on behalf of our network for white paper development; other abstracts are encouraged. Abstract submissions will remain open until 15 March 2018.
GOA-ON Contributes to Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
In January 2018, multiple GOA-ON members met at the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO in Paris, France, to develop the indicator methodology for the 2030 Agenda SDG target 14.3 "average marine acidity measured at an agreed suite of representative sampling stations". The methodology, similar to a recipe, provides guidance to scientists and countries in terms of what measurements are needed and how often, as well as how to report the collected information.
Several GOA-ON members, including Carol Turley, Plymouth Marine Lab (PML), Phil Williamson, University of East Anglia, and Jan Newton, University of Washington, participated in the UNFCCC COP23 in Bonn, Germany, over 8-14 November 2017. GOA-ON was represented at several panels, including the Ocean Action Day, EU Ocean Day, World Climate Research Program (WCRP) event, and International Alliance to Combat Ocean Acidification event, among others.
The Ocean Conference: 5-9 June 2017 at the United Nations
The UN hosted a conference this June in New York focused on implementing Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 14, which is centered on marine sustainability. Of particular interest to the ocean acidification community is the SDG target 14.3: "Minimize and address the impacts of ocean acidification, including through enhanced scientific cooperation at all levels." In preparation for this conference an online discussion was held on 31 March, moderated by several members of the GOA-ON Executive Council. As a result of strong international participation in that discussion, a number of important issues were raised, including the need for additional research, education, outreach, and capacity building.
Pier2Peer is a scientific mentorship program that matches senior researchers with early career scientists to facilitate an exchange of expertise and to provide a platform for international collaborations. Pier2Peer employs an adaptive and self-driven approach to capacity development with guiding principles to focus on user needs at the local, regional, national, and international level and to foster inter-regional and global collaboration. The program officially launched during the 3rd GOA-ON Science Workshop in Hobart, Australia in May 2016.
The OA-Africa network led an African "Ocean Acidification Day" on World Oceans Day (June 8, 2017), encouraging scientists from all over Africa and around the world to join forces to measure pH at the same time, following the indicator of SDG 14.3: "Average marine acidity (pH) measured at agreed suite of representative sampling stations."
Buneos Aires, 24-26 October 2017. The symposium will convoke researchers, students, government and industries representatives from Latin America, and is open to the global community interested in acquiring a regional and global knowledge about the impacts of ocean acidification on marine resources and ecosystems in Latin-America. This 1st symposium will be an opportunity for participants to share their research results and to explore new opportunities of collaborative research in the region.
