Séminaire
The West African countries that border the Canary Current Large Marine Ecosystem (CCLME) are exceedingly vulnerable to rising levels of CO2. First, as an Eastern Boundary Upwelling Ecosystem, the Canary Current will be strongly impacted by ocean acidification, deoxygenation, and warming. Second, the countries are highly dependent upon marine resources for their livelihoods, food security, and national economies. Third, the vast majority of the data on the biogeochemistry of the CCLME are from foreign cruises, providing intermittent snapshots of a complex and dynamic system. Yet models on the potential impacts of climate change on CCLME countries do not appear to have taken those vulnerabilities into account (e.g., Ricke et al. 2018. Country-level social cost of carbon, Nat. Clim. Change 8, 895–900). I will discuss an initiative involving scientists from Senegal, the U.S., and France that aims to build capacity for the in situ monitoring of ocean biogeochemistry in Senegal and for adaptation to rising ocean acidity through shellfish aquaculture.
xclod@locean-ipsl.upmc.fr