We just remodeled a small gallery in our Outer Bay Wing at the Monterey Bay Aquarium to focus on one of the lesser-discussed elements of climate change: the impact carbon pollution is having on our oceans' chemistry. Something scientists are calling "ocean acidification."
We hope you'll stop by and take a look next time you're here. We're encouraging our visitors to let their Senators know that they care about how a changing climate is affecting our ocean wildlife. You can contact them too by going to http://www.senate.gov/ and finding your State's Senator.
A couple of ocean climate stories are in the news this week - and for once - it's not all bad!
For some time, scientists have feared that the current rapid melting of freshwater ice would change the salinity of our oceans and ultimately shut down the Atlantic ocean conveyor belt that keeps most of Europe out of the next ice age. This would not be a new phenomenon - in fact it most likely has happened in periods of warming in the past.
A new article in the journal Science suggests that the change may be less drastic than first feared - and could result in a slow down, rather than a complete meltdown. Let's hope that turns out to be so!
Also in the news this week - one tiny Pacific island nation pledges a zero-carbon strategy, with all of its energy to come from renewable sources by 2020. With most of the island only a few feet above sea level, it's not hard to imagine where the incentive came from. However, the example is a fine one to set for others, and we wish them success.
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