| Session Details | |
| Section | BG - Biogeosciences |
| Session Title | Biological and Ecosystem Responses to Ocean Acidification |
| Main Convener | Prof. Kunshan Gao (Xiamen University, China) |
| Co-convener(s) | Dr. Thiyagarajan Vengatesen (The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR) Dr. Atsushi Ishimatsu (Nagasaki University, Japan) Dr. Haruko Kurihara (Institute for East China Sea Research, Japan) |
| Session Description | Since the Industrial Revolution, the acidity of ocean water has been increased by 26%; and the acidification is expected on a steep upward trajectory in the next decade, representing the fastest ever in the past 55 million years. The acidity is expected to increase by about 150% by the end of this century. Ocean acidification would lead to changes on chemical, physical and biological processes in the oceans. Although some ecological impacts of ocean acidification on marine calcifiers and other organisms have been examined, the scientific community can still not anticipate what it would bring to human beings and the Earth systems in future. The major goals of this session is to promote ocean acidification researches in Asia; to discuss marine scientific issues coupled with global changes; to understand the impacts of ocean acidification on ecosystems and to encourage interdisciplinary researches. Three issues would be discussed in this session: 1) current progresses in researches of Ocean Acidification across different regions; 2) interactions of biological and chemical processes in the oceans related to OA; 3) biological and ecosystem responses to changes in seawater carbonate chemistry. |