STRATEGIC MEETING FOR A SOUTHERN OBSERVATORY Ushuaia (Argentina)

DORIS, ABELE; ALEJANDRO. J. VITALE

Ushuaia

Workshop; STRATEGIC MEETING FOR A SOUTHERN OBSERVATORY Ushuaia (Argentina); 2017

Changes in climateinduced by human activity since the beginning of the industrial eraand their effects on the planet are a fact accepted by most of thescientific community, the public and policy makers. These changes,mainly due to the direct and indirect effects of increasedconcentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, result in theincrease in air and sea temperature and the consequent sea levelrise, ocean acidification, among other disturbances. Theseperturbations significantly affect ecosystem services and marineresources in general both in the open ocean and coastal areas.However, it should be noted that about 70% of the world population isassociated with coastal marine and terrestrial associated ecosystems.The economic importance of coastal areas is huge in terms of fishing,transportation, are major recreational and touristic areas and ofmajor importance for human and ocean health, among other activities($ 12.6 trillion in terms of ecosystem services). In this context,the likely synergistic effects of stress generated by climate changemust be considered as an added disturbance to exploitation activitiesand pollution. Models predict a temperature increase between 2 and 6° C by the end of this century (IPCC), as well as a 0.3-0.4 unitsdecrease in pH (acidification, Rost et al. 2008), while it isexpected that global sea level will rise by about 1 m in the next 100years. All these models have many uncertainties associated,especially because of the lack of data and the limitations incomputing power, but all agree as to the global trends. Thisinitiative should establish a strong link between basic science,monitoring and local stakeholder groups and population. Education,both in terms of training of highly qualified personnel at thetechnical and university levels as well as the dissemination ofknowledge at scholar level, the public and policy makers, will be acentral objective in this observatory project.p { margin-bottom: 0.1in; line-height: 115%; }a:link { }