Open Oceans (OO) Plenary

1. Emerging issues for Open Oceans from the
perspective of the science community
Corinne Le Quéré
Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research
University of East Anglia

2. 1950-2000 Surface salinity
trends
Durack et al. (2010; 2012)
1950-2011 Surface temperature trends
HadCRU3v
Climate change and ocean acidification
1979-2007 Ocean–atm pCO2 trends
Le Quéré et al (2010) based on Takahashi et al (2009)

3. 1990s minus 1970s O2 Changes
100-1000 m
Helm, Bindoff and Church 2011
1950-2000 O2 trends at 20 m
Gilbert et al. 2010
(reverse color scale)
reduction in available habitat
Stramma et al 2012
reduction in growth performance of fish
(W Cheung et al)
influences pelagic fish structure (e.g.
sardine – anchovies switch in N Pac, e.g. Möllmann
et al )
Ocean deoxygenation

4. Duce et al, Science (2008)
Atmospheric nutrient deposition
N deposition from the atmosphere
in 1860
in 2000

5. NASA ocean colour image,
during the soiree iron
fertilization experiment, 1999
Geoengineering and iron fertilization
July 2012

6. Plastic pieces per km2
Lavender Law et al, Science 2010
Plastic accumulation

7. Thresholds, extreme events and tipping points
Schrope, Nature 2012
P. Wilson, NOC
http://www.noc.soton.ac.uk/palaeo/Research/Rese
arch_Topic3_v1.php
Black Shale, Italy

8. Temperature profiles, Levitus 1982
http://www.argo.ucsd.edu/
Surface Ocean CO2 Atlas (SOCAT) 2012
State of observations-1
ARGO floats, Sept 2012

9. Incomplete but progressing quantitative understanding
Warming impact on fisheries
Cheung et al. GCB 2010
Decadal predictions of ocean temperature
Keenlyside, Yeager et al. 2012
Climate velocity to quantify limits to
adaptation in marine ecosystems
Burrows et al. Science 2011

10. Conclusions:
• Several global change issues could impact and interfere with
projects undertaken by GEF in the next decade
• Findings from GEF projects could help better quantify the
importance of global issues and increase GEF visibility