Carbon Fluxes and Ocean Acidification in Canadian Shelf Seas bordering the North Atlantic Ocean

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Anthropogenic CO2 emissions have increased CO2 concentrations in the atmosphere and ocean, causing deleterious effects on Earth's climate and on marine biota by altering the radiation balance and ocean pH. The oceans take up 30-50% of the fossil fuel CO2 emitted to the atmosphere, thus dramatically reducing its greenhouse effects - at the expense of acidifying the oceans. Ocean acidification (OA) has potentially adverse effects for ecosystems and living marine resources, particularly calcifying organisms, services such as fisheries or aquaculture, and the related multimillion dollar industries and communities they sustain. I propose to investigate the vulnerability of living marine resources and related industries to ocean acidification (OA) in Canada, using selected coastal marine sites distributed along Canada's coastline for case studies. I will investigate the threats of OA, directly and by engaging stakeholders, to local economies from seasonal to decadal (century) time scales in order to allow for informed decisions that facilitate long-term, sustainable economic use of living marine resources by subsistence to industrial-scale aquaculture or harvesting industries. Based on consultations with end-users and policymakers and their concerns about the potential OA impacts on their livelihoods, as well as sectors and communities dependent on producing and harvesting living marine resources, two major research questions will be addressed: 1. What is the natural variability of pH and its controlling factors, and does this variability mask or amplify the long-term secular trend of rising acidity? 2. Do findings that result from current OA monitoring activities reflect OA conditions that exist in locations where shellfish production and harvesting occur? Based on improved biogeochemcial understanding on whether and at which time-scale OA will impact harvesting and production of marine living resources and related economies, the proposed program will provide essential insights regarding future sustainable use of these natural resources and the potential risks posed by OA to communities along Canada's coastlines. The proposed program will directly support a postdoctoral fellow, graduate students supported from my other projects, and offers to serve HQP supervised by collaborating colleagues. HQP training will reflect the principle that expertise and professional preparation is strengthened through interaction across the breadth of the relevant natural and social science research. HQP will also benefit from close collaboration with local communities and end-users, which will both shape HQP's thesis work and provide exposure to employment opportunities.