Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
example, many resources developed for schools
around the world are available under the Carbo-
schools (
www.carboschools.org)
initiative and the
EPOCA project
(www.epoca-project.eu
) which pro-
duce educational projects with a strong scientist-
teacher-pupil interaction.
ocean acidii cation will be included in the 5th
Assessment Report in 2012.
Other opportunities to raise awareness and high-
light options on ocean acidii cation include the
United Nations Framework Convention for Climate
Change, the Convention on Biological Diversity, the
Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission,
the UNEP Governing Council, and the UN
Commission on Sustainable Development. Indeed
efforts on the issue of ocean acidii cation have been
coordinated by the Intergovernmental Oceano-
graphic Commission (IOC) of UNESCO and the
UNEP. The Conference of the Parties of the Con-
vention on Biological Diversity (CBD) has also con-
sidered the issue with respect to its impacts on
marine biodiversity. The Commission on Sustainable
Development will consider the issues of oceans and
seas and small island developing states in 2014 and
2015 and will provide an opportunity to highlight
ocean acidii cation and take policy decisions aimed
at combating it.
The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
agreed to consider how states can address ocean
acidii cation under the Clean Water Act on 15 March
2010, and solicited public comments on how to
evaluate waters threatened by acidii cation and
address the problem (Parks 2009). This was a
response to a lawsuit brought under the Clean
Water Act by the Center for Biological Diversity that
challenged EPA's failure to recognize the impacts of
acidii cation on coastal waters off the state of
Washington.
13.6.4 Children communicating the issue
to each other
The 'viral' nature by which issues and trends are
spread by young people has been exploited by
advertisers, not least those concerned with music,
clothing, and technology; word of mouth or peer
recommendation is very powerful when spreading
messages. Recognizing this phenomenon, the
EPOCA project communicated with and inspired a
group of students ranging in age from 11 to 15 years
old to present the science and potential impacts of
ocean acidii cation, in their language, to their peer
group. They researched, wrote, i lmed, and acted
the parts for a short animated i lm—'The other CO
2
problem'. The i lm has been featured widely in the
UK press and media, and currently enjoys a
strong YouTube presence. Such has been its impact
that many thousands of DVD copies have been
requested and the i lm has been shown at prestig-
ious international meetings and on television sta-
tions internationally, translated into a number of
languages, and won awards for communicating
science (view 'The other CO
2
problem' at
www.
13.8 Geoengineering and its
13.7
The response of policymakers
The United Nations General Assembly is charged
with undertaking an annual review and evaluation
of the implementation of the United Nations
Convention on the Law of the Sea and other devel-
opments relating to ocean affairs and legislation,
including in relation to oceans and climate change.
The United Nations holds a unique position for
raising awareness and facilitating discussions
among delegates and the international community
during ocean-related and sustainable development-
related events. As mentioned above, the IPCC has a
special responsibility in this regard, and oceans and
The propensity of humans to believe they can 'i x'
the global warming problem by geoengineering
the planet has led to a growing number of sug-
gested 'solutions' recently assessed by the Royal
Society ( 2009 ; see also Chapter 14 ). The techniques
suggested so far fall into two categories: solar radi-
ation management (SRM), rel ecting the sun's
energy away from earth, and carbon dioxide
removal (CDR), direct removal of CO
2
from the
atmosphere. SRM techniques do not take into
account or resolve the issue of ocean acidii cation
( Zeebe
et al.
2008) while CDR, through removal of
