News

January 8 is “OA Day of Action”. This day was selected to bring awareness to ocean acidification and the decline of the global average pH from 8.2 to 8.1 over the past 200 years. Thank you to all the members and supporters of the Alaska OA Network and the energy, ideas and contributions you bring to this field. This year brings more opportunities to work together to address OA.

This webinar will provide a regional overview of marine carbon dioxide removal (mCDR) activities along the North American Pacific Coast. Speakers will highlight regional climate goals, policy landscapes, science priorities, and ongoing mCDR projects in Alaska, Washington, British Columbia, Oregon, and California.

Two recent science publications calculated acidification rates in the Bering Sea over the past several decades. Both studies found that surface waters on the Bering Sea shelf have acidified due to carbon accumulation in the ocean (i.e. ocean acidification). There were also some nuances.

This spring and summer, kids in Sitka, Petersburg and Angoon got hands-on experience learning about ocean monitoring, chemistry and stewardship through a collaborative program led by UAF and Sitka Cooperative Extension Service.

Each year, information collected by over 100 scientists across Alaska and beyond is gathered and synthesized into an Ecosystem Status Report (ESR) for the North Pacific Fishery Management Council. Starting in 2019, ocean acidification has been included in the Bering Sea chapter. Read the main take-homes from last year, and expect a new edition this winter.

A researcher team in British Columbia analyzed the effects of ocean acidification and food limitation on juvenile chum salmon. Results showed a 3-fold increase in mortality under higher acidity conditions, which was not mitigated by food availability. Learn more in this interview with the researchers.