COP23 OCEANS IN CRISIS PART 2

Science and Oceans: IPCC Report and Other Developments

Margareth S. Copertino, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande (FURG); Hans-Otto Pörtner, Alfred Wegener Institute; Suchana Chavanich, Thailand; Carol Turley, Plymouth Marine Laboratory; Françoise Gaill, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique; Vladimir Ryabinin, UNESCO; Lisa Levin, Distinguished Professor, Scripps Institution of Oceanography; Phillip Williamson, University of East Anglia; and Jay Manning, International Alliance to Combat Ocean Acidification.

The panels cover recent studies that reveal that the ocean is still warming at all depths and that acidification and deoxygenation is occurring faster in some regions than expected. The session is focusing on how can new/coordinated/aligned marine research support ambitious measures in NDCs to limit warming to below 1,5C.

Dr. Phillip Williamson covers geo-engineering and gives an overview of techniques that have been discarded for reasons including low public acceptability including methods like fertilisation, bio-energy crops, sunlight reflection and ocean/atmospheric/land-based methods.

Jay Manning gives an update on the work of the International Alliance to Combat Ocean Acidification to help oceans to mitigate, adapt and build resilience.

The panel also answers audience questions covering ‘ocean oxygen loss’, ‘habitat compression’, ‘the relationship between the IPCC and the UNFCCC’, ‘how to inform governments to enable better policy making’ amongst other topics.