Scientists estimate that the surface ocean is 25 percent more acidic today than it was 300 years ago, largely due to increasing levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) from combustion of fossil fuels and changes in land use. Almost half of the CO2 emitted remains in the atmosphere, with the land and ocean absorbing the rest. When the ocean absorbs CO2, its pH balance changes through a process called ocean acidification.
In 2010, an innovative cross-programmatic grant between the Moore Foundation’s Science Program and Marine Conservation Initiative supported developing a framework and road map for integrating ocean acidification activities among academic, governmental and commercial stakeholders based on the U.S. West Coast.
Led by Meaghan Calcari Campbell, a program officer in the foundation’s Marine Conservation Initiative, this one-time, $260,000 grant ultimately resulted in the California Current Acidification Network, or C-CAN. This collaboration of scientists from multiple disciplines, resource managers, industrial representatives and others from local, state, federal and tribal levels continues to be dedicated to fostering exchange of information about the science of ocean acidification and finding solutions that can be quickly implemented as coastal conditions change, thereby reducing negative effects on the biological resources of the U.S. West Coast.
"During the group’s discussions, I noticed it was as important for scientists to convey to resource managers what was and wasn’t known about ocean acidification at complex local scales, as for industry practitioners to convey to scientists what information they needed and when about ocean acidification stress levels," said Jon Kaye, Ph.D., program director for the foundation’s Marine Microbiology Initiative.
Participants produced important reports, including one describing how to forge a science-informed, responsive and collaborative network: “Core Principles for Development of a West Coast Network for Monitoring Marine Acidification and its Linkage to Biological Effects in the Nearshore Environment.”
Six years later, the impact of this grant is evident through its replication. Along with C-CAN, there are now four networks dedicated to bringing resource managers, industry, academic scientists and others together to wrestle with navigating the impacts of ocean acidification in real time: the Southeast Ocean and Coastal Acidification Network, or SOCAN; the Northeast Coastal Acidification Network, or NECAN; and, as of last week, the Alaska Ocean Acidification Network.
"There are so many laboratories, ocean scientists and shellfish farmers all contributing to the effort but they didn’t have a way to come together and share information and best practices," said Denny Takahashi-Kelso, program director for the foundation’s Marine Conservation Initiative. "We did not expect this to be a template for the community, and were pleased to see a network of practitioners form that continues to be dedicated to achieving common goals in monitoring and managing ocean acidification."
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