Events
20 - 24 February 2012
Salt Lake City,
USA
This joint meeting is an international gathering of more than
4,000 attendees and is being sponsored by The Oceanography Society, the
American Society of Limnology and
Oceanography and the American Geophysical Union.
Special session on "Benthic Processes in a High
CO2 World"
Recent research has demonstrated that the release of fossil fuel
CO2 to the atmosphere leads to ocean acidification,
which is predicted to have a strong adverse effect on marine
ecosystems. At the same time, our perceptions of the benthic
boundary layer continue to evolve, encompassing a complex interplay
of physical, chemical and biological processes in sediments. The
links between sediments and ocean acidification are not
unidirectional, and the emerging model suggests that numerous
feedbacks may impact future changes in ocean chemistry and benthic
ecosystems on multiple time scales. Key players include (i)
biological communities, from coral reefs to microorganisms and
macrofauna in deep and shallow sediments, whose activities have
wide-ranging implications for benthic ecology, elemental cycling,
and commercial fisheries, (ii) transport and reaction in deep sea
and continental margin sediments, including the impact of tides,
waves, and bottom currents in permeable sands, and (iii) submarine
groundwater discharge and carbonate and pH dynamics in subterranean
estuaries. This session aims to bring together experts in
measurements and modeling of ocean acidification and benthic
processes to address methodological and conceptual challenges
pertaining to studies at the frontier between these disciplines. We
encourage multi-disciplinary contributions.
Co-chairs: Alexandra Rao (Center for Estuarine and Marine
Ecology, NIOO-KNAW, NL), Christian Wild (Leibniz Center for
Tropical Marine Ecology, DE), Matthew Charette (Woods Hole
Oceanographic Institution, USA)
Confirmed session: The cold frontline of marine global
climate change; the response of mid and high-latitude
calcifiers
Recent research has highlighted the large variability of
responses by calcifying marine biota to changes in their physical
environment. Critically, those calcifiers provide important
ecosystem services and in addition, studies using novel
environmental proxies from cold-water carbonates are helping form
our understanding of environmental variability and responses to
past periods of rapid climate change This session will promote a
more complete understanding of how mid- to high-latitude
biomineralizing organisms including corals, coralline algae,
bryozoans and mussels respond to environmental changes such as
rapid climate change, ocean acidification, hypoxia, etc. The
session will include sub-organism to ecosystem level processes,
evidence for acclimation and geochemical proxy records. It will
combine palaeo aspects with research investigating present-day
biotic and physical adaptations and the responses of services
provided by biogenic habitats. The aim is to provide the holistic
approach required to further our understanding of mid and
high-latitude calcifier responses to global change.
Submitted by: Nick Kamenos and Maggie Cusack (School of
Geographical and Earth Sciences & School of Life Sciences,
University of Glasgow, Scotland), J Murray Roberts (School of Life
Sciences, Heriot-Watt University, Scotland)
26 - 29 March 2012
London, UK
The global scientific community must deliver to society the
knowledge necessary to assess the risks humanity is facing from
global change. It must provide knowledge of how society can
effectively mitigate dangerous changes and cope with changes we
cannot manage.
Based on the latest scientific evidence, the London Planet Under
Pressure conference will provide a comprehensive update of our
knowledge of the Earth system and the pressure our planet is now
under. The London conference will focus the scientific community’s
and the wider world’s attention on climate, ecological degradation,
human well-being, planetary thresholds, food security, energy,
governance across scales and poverty alleviation.
There is a special session on ocean acidification which will
focus on:
- Ocean acidification consequences for
organisms. What are the main effects of decreasing pH and changes
in carbonate chemistry on physiological processes? Which species
and groups are the most sensitive – and the most
resilient?
- Ocean acidification consequences for
ecosystems. How will effects on species be naturally integrated at
the community and ecosystem level, for seafloor habitats, the water
column and coastal systems?
- Ocean acidification consequences for
socio-economic systems. What are the potential implications for
human use of marine resources, both directly (e.g. impacts on
shellfish and aquaculture) and indirectly, through ecosystem
services (e.g. climate regulation, and role of coral reefs in
coastal protection)?
- Ocean acidification consequences for
policy. Should ocean acidification be considered as inextricably
linked with climate change, or as a separate problem? How can
knowledge of ocean acidification impacts contribute to the emerging
debate on climate geoengineering?
There will also be a poster session.
Abstracts must be submitted via the conference website and
deadline for submission of abstracts is 16 September 2011.
2nd UKOA Annual Science Meeting
16 - 18 April 2012
Exeter University, UK
The 2nd UKOA ASM will be held in the University of
Exeter from 14:00 on Monday 16th April to 15:00 on Wednesday
18th April 2012. Whilst the main focus will be the
presentation and discussion of UKOA research progress and future
plans, there will also be the opportunity for contributions from UK
students/researchers with OA-relevant projects supported by other
means as well as overviews of other national and international OA
research activities.
If you know research students with OA-relevant
projects that are not UKOA-funded but who might be
interested in attending this meeting, then please share this
information with them.
Online registration for this meeting is
available from
www.nerc.ac.uk/research/programmes/oceanacidification/events/120416/ and
will close on 16th March 2012.
For further information please contact
oa@pml.ac.uk.
24 - 27 September 2012
Monterey,
California, USA
Themes
- Impacts on marine organisms, ecosystems,
and biogeochemical cycles
- Socio-economic consequences
- Policy and management
implications
Abstract deadline: 1 April 2012. To view the symposium flyer
please click here.