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Ocean acidification threatens food security, economies, and culture because of its potential impacts on marine ecosystem services. Connecting to the human impacts is essential for preparing for the consequences of our changing ocean.
Ocean acidification threatens food security, economies, and ways of life because of its potential impacts on coastal ecosystems and societies. The NOAA Ocean Acidification Program helps people prepare and adapt to ocean acidification by building community and industry resilience to changing ocean conditions.
NOAA’s Ocean Acidification Program examines the ways in which communities and industries are vulnerable to ocean and coastal acidification, and fosters research and partnerships that promote resiliency and adaptation.
Regional Resiliency & Vulnerability Assessments (RVAs) are interdisciplinary projects that supplement the physical, chemical, and biological science of ocean and coastal acidification with social sciences to assess regional vulnerability. RVA projects inform strategies that build resilience and adaptation to ocean change that are responsive to community values, needs, and priorities. This information is intended to provide national-to-local marine resource decision-makers with information in order to develop adaptation strategies to ocean and coastal acidification and related impacts affecting ocean and coastal ecosystems, ecosystem services, and the human communities that depend on them.
Put models and research into the hands of people who need it to make decisions and prepare for the consequences of ocean acidification. Forecasts that include ocean, coastal or Great Lakes conditions and sensitivity of species and ecosystems help predict the potential impacts to communities and economies.
Develop innovative tools to help monitor ocean acidification and mitigate changing ocean chemistry locally. Enable industries and communities to contribute to the science they need most.
Use models, forecasts, and predictions as tools to facilitate management strategies that will protect marine resources and communities from future changes.
See how ocean acidification affects people and communities.
Modeling
OAP funds modeling studies to advance our understanding of the impacts of ocean acidification on coastal ecosystems and fisheries.
Scientists can use a wide variety of models to project the potential progression of acidification in different regions, the impacts that changes in chemistry may have on marine life, and how these changes could affect a variety of ecosystem services including fisheries, aquaculture, and protection of coasts by coral reefs. For example, projections of ocean acidification can be incorporated into food-web models to better understand how changing ocean chemistry could affect harvested species, protected species, and the structure of the food web itself. Economic-forecast models can be used to analyze the economic impacts of potential changes in fisheries harvest caused by ocean acidification.
Projections of the economic impacts of ocean acidification can be created by combining economic models with findings from laboratory experiments and ecological models.
These links can be made for port communities or specific fisheries through modeling changes in fish harvest. Researchers at the Alaska Fisheries Science Center have developed bio-economic forecasts for the economically and culturally important species red king crab. Researchers at the Northwest Fisheries Science Center are developing projections of how the economies of regional port communities might be altered by potential changes in West Coast fisheries caused by ocean acidification.
Developing innovative tools to help monitor ocean acidification and mitigate changing ocean chemistry locally
Monitoring devices provide a hands-on tool for communities, industries and managers to adapt their practices when corrosive, or low pH, conditions occur. The Ocean Acidification Program funds technology development on both the East and West coasts for monitoring devices. These tools allow shellfish hatcheries and grow out operations to know when corrosive conditions are present so that they can adapt their methods. These projects involve a private industry partner that could move the devices to commercial production. Complementing coastal monitoring, real-time data from offshore buoys now act as an early warning system for shellfish hatcheries, signaling the approach of cold, low pH seawater a day or two before it arrives in the sensitive coastal waters where young oyster larvae are produced. The data enabled hatchery managers to schedule production when water quality is good and avoid wasting valuable energy and other resources when water quality is poor. Other adaptation approaches taken by hatcheries have included adding soda ash to low pH waters to raise it to levels shellfish can tolerate.
In some cases, natural marine ecosystems and species may already have ways to shelter neighboring habitats and organisms from ocean acidification by absorbing carbon dioxide from the seawater. Scientists at multiple NOAA facilities are investigating kelp and other blue carbon solutions as potential biological tools to draw down carbon dioxide from local waters. OAP-funded scientists studied kelp for this application in Puget Sound, where it can grow side by side with shellfish hatcheries to manage harmful effects of ocean acidification. Similarly, OAP-funded scientists are also evaluated the beneficial effects of seagrass for local populations of corals, which is leading to the development of coral reef management strategies to protect seagrass beds.
The United States Department of Agriculture and NOAA Sea Grant have supported research to develop oysters that are more resilient to ocean acidification. Through the Small Business Innovation Research program, NOAA has also funded work to identify and develop ocean acidification-resistant strains of red abalone.
Research that helps us understand the genetic and molecular underpinnings of how species respond to ocean acidification can help people and industries adapt. OAP invests in ‘omics research – referring to genomic, proteomic, and other genetic and molecular approaches that give us a fuller picture of why and how a species respond to acidification. This work has helped elucidate how acidification impacts bay scallops, an important harvested species and analog for the valuable Atlantic sea scallops, and how they may respond to future conditions. Partnering with NOAA Sea Grant, oyster growers are able to identify vulnerabilities between different strains and type of oysters.
Management strategies use information provided by research and tools that can be used to make sound decisions to effectively conserve marine resources. Baseline research about organism and community sensitivity to ocean acidification is incorporated into these strategies, in an effort to sustain these resources for the future.
Ocean acidification is a global challenge, and the most effective adaptation strategies are holistic, incorporating the knowledge and experiences of many sectors. As an answer to the difficulty of bridging geographic and professional divides, together with the Interagency Working Group on Ocean Acidification, NOAA helped launch the Ocean Acidification Information Exchange, an online community and discussion forum.
Connecting People Across Management & Disciplines
The OA Information Exchange is designed to make it easy to connect and find information, with tools to post updates, share documents, media, links, and events with fellow members.
The site welcomes scientists, educators, students, policy makers, members of industry, and concerned citizens to help fulfill the mission of building a well-informed community ready to respond and adapt to ocean and coastal acidification. If you would like to join the conversation, please request an account at the OA Info Exchange.
The Ocean Acidification Program aims to provide information in ways people need to make informed decisions.
There are several tools and portals are available for different communities.
Get Ocean Acidification Data >
J-SCOPE > Provides 6-9 month forecasts for managers, industries and communities
CBEFS > Chesapeake Bay Environmental Forecast System
Chesapeake Bay Atlas > An atlas of almost 40 years of physical and biogeochemical conditions in Chesapeake Bay
NCRMP Coral Viz Tool> Easy data visualization tool form the National Coral Reef Monitoring Program
See our most recent news related to human connections.
NOAA’s Ocean Acidification Program seeks qualified candidates for four postdoctoral positions to synthesize data in the major areas of the program’s investments.
OAP convened a Regional Ocean Acidification Vulnerability and Resilience Assessment Workshop to provide a forum for social scientists and natural scientists to come together and both share their experience and build future collaborations.
The NOAA Ocean Acidification Program requests proposals for collaborative projects that synthesize ocean and coastal acidification information at a regional scale.
See our funded projects in human connections.
See publications from our funded projects for human connections.
The NOAA Ocean Acidification Program exists to meet the ocean acidification research and monitoring needs of the U.S. See how you can get involved to serve your community and participate in cutting-edge research and education and outreach.
