Global Ocean Acidification Side Event at GEO-X Summit in Geneva
A special side event at the GEO-X Summit looked at the issue of Ocean Acidification, changes in ocean chemistry resulting from the ocean's uptake of excessive carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere. Participants in the panel included: Wendy Watson-Wright, Executive Secretary of UNESCO's Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission, Professor Richard Bellerby, Senior Resarcher at the Norwegian Institute for Water Research, Albert Fischer, Director of the Global Ocean Observing System (GOOS), Libby Jewett, Director of the NOAA Ocean Acidification Program, Jan Newton, Principal Oceanographer with the Applied Physics Laboratory of the University of Washington, David Osborn, Director of the IAEA Environment Laboratories in Monaco, and Carol Turley, a leading expert on the ocean's biogeochemical cycles.
From January 13 to 17, 2014 Geneva’s CICG center will be the site of a major international conference and exhibit aimed at improving access to critical information on the global environment. The GEO-X Plenary and Geneva Ministerial Summit brings together experts from 90 governments and nearly 70 organizations and will include an exhibit of cutting edge technology and more than 30 forums and panel discussions, many open to the general public. Topics will include Agriculture and Food Security, Measuring Biodiversity, Disaster Risk Reduction, Cholera Early Warning, Ocean Acidification, UNEP Live!, and Water Security. The summit will be presided over by GEO’s four co-chairs: China, the European Commission, South Africa and the United States. The United States will be represented at GEO-X by a high level multiagency delegation.
For nearly a decade, the Group on Earth Observations (GEO) has been driving the interoperability of thousands of individual space-based, airborne and in situ Earth observations around the world. Often these separate systems yield just snapshot assessments, leading to critical gaps in scientific understanding. GEO is addressing such gaps by providing easy, open access to organized observations that enable an increasingly integrated view of our changing Earth. Summit participants will look at how the international community can increase the sustainability and quality of observation networks and make the maximum possible volume of data freely accessible. For sound science to shape sound policy, leaders and other decision-makers require this fuller picture as an indispensable foundation of environmental decision-making.
U.S. Mission Geneva / Eric Bridiers