Community Forum:
Ocean Biogeochemistry

16:00-17:30, Day 2 Tuesday 22 September 2009
Room: Mosaici 1

Co-conveners: Nicolas Gruber and Chris Sabine

This Community Forum will discuss how we can expand and improve the ocean observing systems for ocean carbon and biogeochemistry in the coming decades. The massive changes in the global carbon cycle, and the resulting changes in climate, ocean acidification, and ocean deoxygenation likely will have substantial impacts on ocean biogeochemistry and on ocean ecosystems, with large potential to feedback on the atmospheric concentrations of the greenhouse gases CO₂ and N₂O. Developing adequate observing systems to address and observe this triumvirate of anticipated major changes represents a formidable challenge, since it likely cannot simply be resolved by augmenting the current systems incrementally.

This forum will consist of two sections: In the first section, participants are invited to make short presentations (2 min) to provide their perspective, followed by a short discussion of their particular input. Please inform the organizer of your intention to give a brief presentation until September 20 at the latest. In the second section, the discussion is opened to the broader questions facing the marine carbon cycle and biogeochemistry.

Questions for the groups will include: How can we prioritize the next steps? What criteria can be developed for identifying priorities? What set of processes can be used to implement/coordinate the next steps? The results of these discussions will feed into the Conference Statement and the Conference report which will be used as a basis for moving forward Ocean Observations in the next decade.