To mark World Oceans Day 2023 on the 8th June, the IOC working group Global Ocean Oxygen Network (GO2NE) and the Ocean Decade Programme the Global Ocean Oxygen Decade (GOOD) are coordinating a number of events to raise awareness of the issues and risks of deoxygenation across the ocean.
In collaboration with colleagues at GEOMAR (Germany), the GO2NE and GOOD networks have engaged with scientists and institutions around the world to host outreach activities to communicate the significant threat of decreasing oxygen levels in the marine environment.
Oxygen poor areas in the open ocean and coastal areas, are mainly the result of human activities that are increasing global temperatures (CO2-induced warming) and increasing loads of nutrients from agriculture, sewage, and industrial waste, including pollution stemming from power generation using fossil fuels and biomass. The increase of water bodies with very little or no oxygen, so called dead zones, have a direct impact on the health of aquatic life and coastal communities, that rely on the ocean for food and income.
Raising awareness of this threat, its causes, and its impacts, is an essential step to building climate resiliency through adaptation to mitigate the impacts of climate change in the ocean.
On World Oceans Day, scientists and institutions will showcase these messages to a wide range of audiences via exhibitions, presentations, and workshops. By engaging with school students, the general public, and other scientists, the GO2NE and GOOD networks will be able to connect with groups of society that may not otherwise be exposed to information on this emerging threat. These activities will in turn give citizens a more direct access to scientists working in ocean deoxygenation.
To learn more about deoxygenation in the ocean you can join the GO2NE list-serve and follow the Global Ocean Oxygen Decade on Twitter to see when where these events are taking place.
