A new Ocean Acidification monitoring buoy was deployed on April 5, 2018 in the largest United States estuary, the Chesapeake Bay. This is the first long-term ocean acidification monitoring buoy and it will be deployed at the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay. The buoy will measure carbon parameters in the estuary, which is particularly vulnerable to changes in carbonate chemistry. These changes could impact economically valuable resources for Bay communities, such as oysters. The data from this buoy will supply models with the information needed to recognize potential areas of vulnerability and what future chemical parameters may look like in the bay, while also expanding the National Ocean Acidification Observing Network. It will also help researchers at NOAA PMEL, University of Delaware and University of Maryland differentiate between human-caused and natural variations in carbonate chemistry in the estuary.

The Mid-Atlantic Sea Grant Programs in partnership with the NOAA Ocean Acidification Program, are pleased to announce the availability of Ocean Acidification Graduate Research Fellowships for a two-year period covering the 2018 and 2019 academic years. The fellowship is open to full-time graduate students at any academic institution in Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, New York and Virginia who are engaged in coastal and marine research relevant to regional ocean, coastal, and estuarine acidification. The focus should be on improving understanding of the potential ecological consequences of increasing carbon dioxide concentration in regional coastal waters. Projects may encompass natural and/or social science research topics.

Proposals are being accepted through 5:00 pm ET on Friday, April 13, 2018 via [EasyDNNnewsLink|91].  

This announcement and additional information can be found on each state Sea Grant program’s website.

Awards of $1.3 million this year, totaling $4.1 million over three years, will focus on understanding the combined effects of ocean acidification, low oxygen and nutrient pollution on economically and ecologically important species in coastal habitats.

It is clear that our ocean is becoming more acidic as a result of carbon dioxide seeping into open ocean surface waters. But closer to shore things become a bit murky, as other factors can also change the chemistry of coastal waters. In these waters which are home to many important marine organisms on which coastal communities rely, scientists will be working to shed light on the potential impacts of acidification and other stresses.