Background: As the amount of atmospheric carbon dioxide has increased over recent history, so has the acidity of oceans worldwide. The changing acidity of the ocean has many ecological and economic impacts, one of the most serious being its effects on marine life and fisheries. The impact of ocean acidification is intensified in colder bodies of water such as those off the coast of New England, a region with a large fisheries sector. These impacts have already been recognized on both coasts, with the Washington, Maine, and Maryland state legislatures commissioning reports on ocean acidification and marine life/fisheries. In 2015, the Massachusetts Legislature also introduced a bill to establish a taskforce to investigate the impact of increasingly acidic waters off the coast of Massachusetts on commercially harvested or grown marine species.

Our speakers include:

• Bärbel Hönisch, Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory/Columbia University | Slides  Video
• Jon Hare, NOAA Fisheries Narragansett | Slides  Video
• Hauke Kite-Powell, Marine Policy Center, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution | Slides  Video

Webinar Co-Sponsors:

Consortium for Ocean Leadership, NOAA Ocean Acidification Program, Northeast Coastal Acidification Network

CEU Credits

To earn CEU credits, please complete the associated on-demand GOLI course that was developed from this webinar with a grade of 70% or higher and then submit your application for CEUs. CEUs are awarded from the American Institute of Professional Geologists. To view the full list of on-demand GOLI courses, please browse the GOLI course catalog.

Resources to learn more:

•  View this webinar's Question & Answer session
• Ecosystem Status Report for the Northeast Large Marine Ecosystem, NOAA Fisheries Science Center
• NOAA’s Climate Change Web Portal
• NOAA Technical Memorandum NMFS-OSF-3: Methodology for Assessing the Vulnerability of Marine Fish and Shellfish Species to a Changing Climate
• Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations Fisheries Global Seafood Production Data Set
• List of additional peer-reviewed journal publications mentioned in the webinar presentations (download pdf)
• National Research Council, 2010, Ocean Acidification: A National Strategy to Meet the Challenges of a Changing Ocean

Search the Geological Surveys Database for reports and factsheets about ocean acidification.