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Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2010. Ocean Acidification: A National Strategy to Meet the Challenges of a Changing Ocean. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/12904.
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OCEAN
ACIDIFICATION

A NATIONAL STRATEGY TO MEET THE
CHALLENGES OF A CHANGING OCEAN

Committee on the Development of an Integrated Science Strategy for
Ocean Acidification Monitoring, Research, and Impacts Assessment

Ocean Studies Board

Division on Earth and Life Studies

NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL
OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES

THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES PRESS
Washington, D.C.
www.nap.edu

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2010. Ocean Acidification: A National Strategy to Meet the Challenges of a Changing Ocean. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/12904.
×

THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES PRESS     500 Fifth Street, N.W.      Washington, DC 20001

NOTICE: The project that is the subject of this report was approved by the Governing Board of the National Research Council, whose members are drawn from the councils of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine. The members of the committee responsible for the report were chosen for their special competences and with regard for appropriate balance.

This study was supported by Contract/Grant No. DG133R-08-CQ-0062, OCE-0946330, NNX09AU42G, and G09AP00160 between the National Academy of Sciences and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Science Foundation, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and U.S. Geological Survey. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the organizations or agencies that provided support for the project.

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Copyright 2010 by the National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.

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Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2010. Ocean Acidification: A National Strategy to Meet the Challenges of a Changing Ocean. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/12904.
×

THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES

Advisers to the Nation on Science, Engineering, and Medicine

The National Academy of Sciences is a private, nonprofit, self-perpetuating society of distinguished scholars engaged in scientific and engineering research, dedicated to the furtherance of science and technology and to their use for the general welfare. Upon the authority of the charter granted to it by the Congress in 1863, the Academy has a mandate that requires it to advise the federal government on scientific and technical matters. Dr. Ralph J. Cicerone is president of the National Academy of Sciences.

The National Academy of Engineering was established in 1964, under the charter of the National Academy of Sciences, as a parallel organization of outstanding engineers. It is autonomous in its administration and in the selection of its members, sharing with the National Academy of Sciences the responsibility for advising the federal government. The National Academy of Engineering also sponsors engineering programs aimed at meeting national needs, encourages education and research, and recognizes the superior achievements of engineers. Dr. Charles M. Vest is president of the National Academy of Engineering.

The Institute of Medicine was established in 1970 by the National Academy of Sciences to secure the services of eminent members of appropriate professions in the examination of policy matters pertaining to the health of the public. The Institute acts under the responsibility given to the National Academy of Sciences by its congressional charter to be an adviser to the federal government and, upon its own initiative, to identify issues of medical care, research, and education. Dr. Harvey V. Fineberg is president of the Institute of Medicine.

The National Research Council was organized by the National Academy of Sciences in 1916 to associate the broad community of science and technology with the Academy’s purposes of furthering knowledge and advising the federal government. Functioning in accordance with general policies determined by the Academy, the Council has become the principal operating agency of both the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering in providing services to the government, the public, and the scientific and engineering communities. The Council is administered jointly by both Academies and the Institute of Medicine. Dr. Ralph J. Cicerone and Dr. Charles M. Vest are chair and vice chair, respectively, of the National Research Council.

www.national-academies.org

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2010. Ocean Acidification: A National Strategy to Meet the Challenges of a Changing Ocean. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/12904.
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Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2010. Ocean Acidification: A National Strategy to Meet the Challenges of a Changing Ocean. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/12904.
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COMMITTEE ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF AN INTEGRATED SCIENCE STRATEGY FOR OCEAN ACIDIFICATION MONITORING, RESEARCH, AND IMPACTS ASSESSMENT

FRANÇOIS M.M. MOREL, Chair, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey

DAVID ARCHER, University of Chicago, Illinois

JAMES P. BARRY, Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, California

GARRY D. BREWER, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut

JORGE E. CORREDOR, University of Puerto Rico, Mayagüez

SCOTT C. DONEY, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Massachusetts

VICTORIA J. FABRY, California State University, San Marcos

GRETCHEN E. HOFMANN, University of California, Santa Barbara

DANIEL S. HOLLAND, Gulf of Maine Research Institute, Portland

JOAN A. KLEYPAS, National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, Colorado

FRANK J. MILLERO, University of Miami, Florida

ULF RIEBESELL, Leibniz Institute of Marine Sciences, Kiel, Germany

Staff

SUSAN ROBERTS, Study Director (beginning January 2010)

SUSAN PARK, Study Director (until January 2010)

KATHRYN HUGHES, Program Officer

HEATHER CHIARELLO, Senior Program Assistant

CHERYL LOGAN, Christine Mirzayan Science and Technology Policy Graduate Fellow (Winter 2009)

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2010. Ocean Acidification: A National Strategy to Meet the Challenges of a Changing Ocean. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/12904.
×

OCEAN STUDIES BOARD

DONALD F. BOESCH (Chair), University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science, Cambridge

EDWARD A. BOYLE, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge

JORGE E. CORREDOR, University of Puerto Rico, Mayagüez

KEITH R. CRIDDLE, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Juneau

JODY W. DEMING, University of Washington, Seattle

MARY (MISSY) H. FEELEY, ExxonMobil Exploration Company, Houston, Texas

ROBERT HALLBERG, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and Princeton University, New Jersey

DEBRA HERNANDEZ, Hernandez and Company, Isle of Palms, South Carolina

ROBERT A. HOLMAN, Oregon State University, Corvallis

KIHO KIM, American University, Washington, DC

BARBARA A. KNUTH, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York

ROBERT A. LAWSON, Science Applications International Corporation, San Diego, California

GEORGE I. MATSUMOTO, Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, Moss Landing, California

JAY S. PEARLMAN, The Boeing Company (retired), Port Angeles, Washington

ANDREW A. ROSENBERG, Conservation International, Arlington, Virginia

DANIEL L. RUDNICK, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, La Jolla, California

ROBERT J. SERAFIN, National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, Colorado

ANNE M. TREHU, Oregon State University, Corvallis

PETER L. TYACK, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Massachusetts

DAWN J. WRIGHT, Oregon State University, Corvallis

JAMES A. YODER, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Massachusetts

OSB Staff

SUSAN ROBERTS, Director

CLAUDIA MENGELT, Senior Program Officer

DEBORAH GLICKSON, Program Officer

MARTHA MCCONNELL, Program Officer

JODI BOSTROM, Associate Program Officer

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2010. Ocean Acidification: A National Strategy to Meet the Challenges of a Changing Ocean. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/12904.
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SHUBHA BANSKOTA, Financial Associate

PAMELA LEWIS, Administrative Coordinator

SHERRIE FORREST, Research Associate

HEATHER CHIARELLO, Senior Program Assistant

JEREMY JUSTICE, Senior Program Assistant

Page viii Cite
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Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2010. Ocean Acidification: A National Strategy to Meet the Challenges of a Changing Ocean. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/12904.
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Acknowledgments

This report was greatly enhanced by the participants of the meeting held as part of this study. The committee would first like to acknowledge the efforts of those who gave presentations at meetings: Richard Feely (NOAA), Steve Murawski (NOAA), Julie Morris (NSF), Paula Bontempi (NASA), Kevin Summers (EPA), John Haines (USGS), Emily Pidgeon (Conservation International), Mike Sigler (NOAA), Chris Langdon (Oregon State University), Steve Gittings (NOAA), George Waldbusser (Chesapeake Biological Laboratory), Joseph Kunkel (University of Massachusetts-Amherst), Stephen Carpenter (University of Wisconsin), Tim Killeen (NSF), Jerry Miller (OSTP), Rick Spinrad (NOAA), Hugh Ducklow (Marine Biological Laboratory), Daniel Schrag (Harvard University), Kai Lee (Packard Foundation), and Rob Lempert (RAND). These talks helped set the stage for fruitful discussions in the closed sessions that followed.

The committee is also grateful to a number of people who provided important discussion and/or material for this report: Mitch Covington, BugWare Inc.; Jason Hall-Spencer, University of Plymouth, UK; Russ Hopcroft, University of Alaska, Fairbanks; Howard Spero, University of California, Davis; and Richard Zimmerman, Old Dominion University.

This report has been reviewed in draft form by individuals chosen for their diverse perspectives and technical expertise, in accordance with procedures approved by the NRC’s Report Review Committee. The purpose of this independent review is to provide candid and critical comments that will assist the institution in making its published report as sound

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2010. Ocean Acidification: A National Strategy to Meet the Challenges of a Changing Ocean. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/12904.
×

as possible and to ensure that the report meets institutional standards for objectivity, evidence, and responsiveness to the study charge. The review comments and draft manuscript remain confidential to protect the integrity of the deliberative process. We wish to thank the following individuals for their participation in their review of this report:

Edward A. Boyle, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge

Ken Caldeira, Carnegie Institution of Washington, Stanford, California

Stephen Carpenter, University of Wisconsin, Madison

Paul Falkowski, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey

Jean-Pierre Gattuso, CNRS and Université Pierre et Marie Curie, France

Burke Hales, Oregon State University, Corvallis

David Karl, University of Hawaii, Honolulu

Chris Langdon, University of Miami, Florida

Paul Marshall, Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority, Queensland, Australia

Edward Miles, University of Washington, Seattle

Hans-Otto Pörtner, Alfred Wegener Institute, Bremerhaven, Germany

Andy Ridgewell, University of Bristol, United Kingdom

James Sanchirico, University of California, Davis

Brad Seibel, University of Rhode Island, Kingston

Although the reviewers listed above have provided many constructive comments and suggestions, they were not asked to endorse the conclusions or recommendations nor did they see the final draft of the report before its release. The review of this report was overseen by Kenneth H. Brink, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, appointed by the Divison on Earth and Life Studies, and W.L. Chameides, Duke University, appointed by the Report Review Committee, who were responsible for making certain that an independent examination of this report was carried out in accordance with institutional procedures and that all review comments were carefully considered. Responsibility for the final content of this report rests entirely with the authoring committee and the institution.

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2010. Ocean Acidification: A National Strategy to Meet the Challenges of a Changing Ocean. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/12904.
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The ocean has absorbed a significant portion of all human-made carbon dioxide emissions. This benefits human society by moderating the rate of climate change, but also causes unprecedented changes to ocean chemistry. Carbon dioxide taken up by the ocean decreases the pH of the water and leads to a suite of chemical changes collectively known as ocean acidification. The long term consequences of ocean acidification are not known, but are expected to result in changes to many ecosystems and the services they provide to society. Ocean Acidification: A National Strategy to Meet the Challenges of a Changing Ocean reviews the current state of knowledge, explores gaps in understanding, and identifies several key findings.

Like climate change, ocean acidification is a growing global problem that will intensify with continued CO2 emissions and has the potential to change marine ecosystems and affect benefits to society. The federal government has taken positive initial steps by developing a national ocean acidification program, but more information is needed to fully understand and address the threat that ocean acidification may pose to marine ecosystems and the services they provide. In addition, a global observation network of chemical and biological sensors is needed to monitor changes in ocean conditions attributable to acidification.

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