OACIS
Events & Sessions Partner
Information
Ocean Acidification and other ocean Changes – Impacts and Solutions
Ocean Acidification and other ocean Changes - Impacts and Solutions (formerly Association monégasque sur l'Acidification des Océans - AMAO) is a Monegasque association created in 2013 at the initiative of the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation to study the impact of climate change on the ocean, such as acidification, as well as potential solutions to mitigate its impacts. It is supported by the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation.
OACIS brings together several stakeholders working on the issue: the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation, the Monaco Government, the IAEA Environment Laboratories, the Monaco Scientific Centre and the Institute of Oceanography, as well as representatives from the IUCN and the French National Center for Scientific Research. (CNRS).
Every day, the oceans absorb more than a quarter of the CO2 emitted by human activities, thereby reducing the amount of this greenhouse gas in the atmosphere. We are lucky – without the oceans, global warming would be an even bigger problem. However, CO2 absorption leads to changes in the very chemistry of seawater, lowering its pH. The oceans acidify.
This phenomenon, known as ocean acidification, is harmful to marine organisms and ecosystems, and can be damaging to organisms made up of a calcium shell or skeleton, such as corals and mollusks. Occurring in conjunction with ocean warming and oxygen loss, two other major global changes, the effects of acidification could be multiple and difficult to predict.
Having recognized the danger of this phenomenon early on, HSH Prince Albert II of Monaco and his Foundation decided to take scientists’ message to the highest levels of politics. In 2009, more than 150 scientists from 26 countries joined the Sovereign Prince in the Monaco Declaration on Ocean Acidification. Since then, the Foundation has been working with partners in the Principality and international collaborators to advance research, bring together those working in this area, and come up with solutions.
