This is the first meeting in the IGBP-SCOR Fast Track Initiative entitled "Atmospheric CO2 and Ocean Biogeochemistry: Modern Observations and Past Experiences".
The PAGES Paleo-Ocean Acidification Working Group emerged out of this initiative.
Objectives
This workshop, held at Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University, aimed to address specific questions that break down the overarching general question on the consequences of ongoing ocean acidification into manageable tasks. The objective is to define state-of-the-art answers to these questions, to work out recommendations for the communities, to define deliverables for this particular Fast-Track Initiative (FTI) within the following year, and to outline group papers.
Scientific themes and questions
(1) What are the predicted changes (and uncertainties) in marine geochemistry (pH, seawater chemistry, CCD etc.) for various future CO2 emission scenarios?
(2) What were the amounts and rates of change in ocean geochemistry in response to changes in atmospheric CO2 as inferred from the geological record?
(3) What processes were responsible for past changes in ocean acidification?
(4) What do present-day studies tell us about the response of biota to changes in ocean chemistry (biomineralization and other biological processes)?
(5) What does the fossil record reveal about the adaptation of marine biota to changes in ocean acidification?
Workshop structure
Days 1 and 2
(A) Overview presentations: State of the art related to the above questions.
(B) Breakout into two specialist working groups (according to key questions) consisting of a mix of present-day and paleoresearchers, observationalists and modelers. Groups will try to answer the questions, identify the knowledge gaps limiting the answers, and work out what kind of synergistic research could produce better answers.
Day 3
Presentation and discussion of group results in plenary; synthesis; strategy for publishing, and planning of follow-up activities and a second workshop in 2007.
Meeting material
> The Darkening sea: piece by a journalist
Themes
A: What were amounts and rates of change in ocean geochemistry in response to changes in atmospheric CO2 as inferred from the geological record?
B: What are the predicted changes (and uncertainties) in marine geochemistry (pH, seawater chemistry, CCD, etc.) for various future CO2 emission scenarios?
C: What processes were responsible for past changes in ocean acidification?
D: What do present-day studies tell us about the response of biota to changes in ocean chemistry (biomineralisation and other biological processes)?
E: What does the fossil record reveal about the adaptation of marine biota to changes in ocean acidification?
Funding
Funding has been granted from IGBP, SCOR and PAGES.
Participants
The workshop was attended by about 65 participants working in a range of disciplines (e.g. paleoclimatology, ocean chemistry, carbon system modeling, physiology, environmental and evolutionary biology, biogeochemistry) and timescales. Below is a list of the attendees:
Eleni Anagnostou, Rutgers University, IMCS, New Jersey, USA
Bob Anderson, LDEO, Palisades, USA
Dave Anderson, NOAA, Boulder, USA
David Archer, University of Chicago, USA
Franck Bassinot, LSCE, Gif-sur-Yvette, France
Richard Bellerby, University of Bergen and BCCR, Norway
Jelle Bijma, AWI, Bremerhaven, Germany
Jerry Blackford, Plymouth Marine Laboratory, UK
Wally Broecker, LDEO, Palisades, USA
Robert Buddemeier, University of Kansas, Lawrence, USA
Ken Caldeira, Carnegie Institute, Stanford, USA
Tzu-Chien (Clara) Chiu, LDEO, Palisades, USA
Marina Chong, Rutgers University, IMCS, New Jersey, USA
Emily Clinch, Rutgers University, IMCS, New Jersey, USA
Anne Cohen, WHOI, Woods Hole, USA
Hans de Moel, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Netherlands
Harry Elderfield, University of Cambridge, UK
Jonathan Erez, Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Israel
Victoria Fabry, Cal State San Marcos, USA
Richard Feely, NOAA, Seattle, USA
Kunshan Gao, Shantou University, Guangdong, China
Jean-Pierre Gattuso, CNRS-Villefranche, France
John Guinotte, MCBI, USA
Frank Hall, National Research Council, USA
Christoph Heinze, University of Bergen and BCCR, Norway
Jorijntje Henderiks, Stockholm University, Sweden
Bärbel Hönisch, LDEO, Palisades, USA
Kuo Fang Huang, Rutgers University, IMCS, New Jersey, USA
Kate Jordan, Rutgers University, IMCS, New Jersey, USA
Lee Kitack, POSTECH, S. Korea
Joan Kleypas, NCAR, Boulder, USA
Chris Langdon, University of Miami, USA
Michèlle LaVigne, Rutgers University, IMCS, New Jersey, USA
Kitack Lee, POSTECH, Pohang, Korea
Manfredi Manizza, MIT, USA
Bradley Opdyke, ANU, Canberra, Australia
Jim Orr, MEL-IAEA, Monaco
Mark Pagani, Yale University, New Haven, USA
Frank Peeters, Amsterdam, NL
Don Potts, U.C. Santa Cruz, USA
John Raven, University of Dundee, UK
Ramesh Rengaswamy, PRL, Ahmedabad, India
Ros Rickaby, University of Oxford, UK
Andy Ridgwell, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada
Ulf Riebesell, Leibniz Institute, Kiel, Germany
Torres Rodrigo, Uni. of Concepcion, Chile
Yair Rosenthal, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, USA
Daniela Schmidt, University of Bristol, UK
Rob Sherrell, Rutgers University, IMCS, New Jersey, USA
Jacob Silverman, Weizmann Institute, Israel
Sindia Sosdian, Rutgers University, IMCS, New Jersey, USA
George Stanley, University of Montana, USA
Eric Sundquist, USGS, Woods Hole, USA
Taro Takahashi, LDEO, Palisades, USA
Helmuth Thomas, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Canada
Rodrigo Torres, University of Concepción, Chile
Carol Turley, Plymouth Marine Laboratory, UK
Pinxian Wang, Tongji University, Shanghai, China
Rik Wanninkhof, NOAA, Miami, USA
Steve Widdicombe, Plymouth Marine Laboratory, UK
Gisela Winckler, LDEO, Palisades, USA
Oliver Wingenter, New Mexico Tech, Socorro, USA
Jim Zachos, U.C. Santa Cruz, USA
Richard Zeebe, University of Hawaii, Manoa, USA
Patrizia Ziveri, UAB, Spain and Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Netherlands
Ed Urban, SCOR, Baltimore, USA
Thorsten Kiefer, PAGES, Bern, Switzerland
Post-meeting publications
See the products section on the Ocean Acidification Working Group page here.
Breakout Groups
1: Ocean chemistry past and future (How well do we know past ocean chemistry and how well can we predict future ocean chemistry?
What are the prospects for improving our knowledge of ocean chemistry changes and the dynamics that control them?)"
2: Species extinction and changes in species composition/diversity
3: Comunicating issues of ocean acidification to the public, policymakers, and funders.
Breakout Groups (up to 3 parallel): Complete the collection of big questions, challenges, requirements, etc; all groups address the same questions; random grouping.