Talk

Declining oxygen in the world’s oceans and coastal systems: Science, policy and why it's hard to understand the big picture

Thursday, Apr 19, 2018 - 11:00am - 12:00pm
Event Location
Schmidt Conference Center

Event Details

Our Thursday science seminars are free and open to the public. Because they are directed towards a scientific audience, they are more technical than our evening lectures. Visit our Evening Lecture Page to learn more about our free Bay Optimism evening lecture series.

Summary: Since the middle of the 20th century, over 500 coastal systems have reported hypoxia (oxygen low enough to affect physiological and ecological processes) related to increasing anthropogenic nutrient loads. Over the same time period, the spatial extent and severity of oxygen depletion in both the global ocean and coastal waters has increased as a result of rising global temperatures caused by greenhouse gas emissions. Animals require more oxygen as temperatures rise and it becomes scarcer in their aquatic environments. In addition, because the main mechanism of oxygen decline is respiration, CO2 is released as oxygen is consumed, and hypoxia and acidification co-occur. Understanding effects of oxygen decline at scales ranging from the individual to fisheries stocks and food webs, and at time scales ranging from short-term exposures to evolutionary scales, is a challenge. But there are opportunities to highlight the problem and to inform policy both locally and internationally.