One of the greatest challenges we are facing is climate change. However, one important planetary driver of climate change that we often overlook is the ocean - and we ignore it at our peril.

The ocean covers two-thirds of the planet and is an average of 2 km deep. Its deepest point would swallow Mt. Everest with 2 km to spare. The ocean holds the longest mountain range on Earth, the highest waterfall, and the tallest mountain. It is the largest habitat on Earth and contains most of the life we know of on the planet. For these reasons, many of us think the ocean is limitless and unchangeable. We could not be more wrong.

The ocean drives our climate system. Its interaction with the atmosphere sets up the circulation patterns that influence regional weather patterns and climate. It is storing nearly 90% of the increased heat that we have added to our climate system through the effects of greenhouse gas emissions. This stored heat will affect global atmospheric temperatures for decades to come because the ocean retains heat longer than the atmosphere. In addition, the ocean is becoming more acidic – another side-effect of the additional carbon dioxide we have put into the atmosphere.

The final agreement adopted by the 21st Conference of the Parties in Parties last year mentions the ocean only once. However, if we are to keep human-caused warming below 1.5 C and ensure that we can adapt to a changing climate, we must pay attention to the ocean. In this presentation, Susan Avery will discuss the “dance” of the atmosphere and the ocean, what is needed to advance our knowledge about the ocean and climate change, and how we can be citizens of the ocean.

Programme:

Lecture:
Susan Avery (United States of America)
President Emerita, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, USA & Senior Fellow, Consortium for Ocean Leadership, USA

Comment:
Clemens Simmer
Professor for General and Experimental Meteorology, Meteorological Institute (MIUB), University of Bonn

Moderation: Kai Pfundt, GA Bonn

The lecture will be followed by an open discussion with the audience and a small reception after the event.

The lecture series is coorganised by the German Commission for UNESCO, the Forum Internationale Wissenschaft (fiw) of the University of Bonn and the Liaison Office International Academic Sciences of the UN City of Bonn.