Climate change: What does the future hold for our marine ecosystem?

Nathan Mantua comes to the island....

My good friend Rachel from the Marine Labs sent me this bit about a lecture on Monday with Nathan Mantua that you won’t want to miss:

Past and Future Climate Change Impacts on Northwest Marine Ecosystems

Is climate really that important for our coastal marine ecosystems?  In this presentation, I will review historical records that document widespread climate-driven changes in our region’s marine ecosystems, from year-long El Nino events to decades long shifts in the Pacific Decadal Oscillation. I will also discuss climate links to recent observations of hypoxic and anoxic waters in lower Hood Canal and in the nearshore waters along the Oregon Coast, and summarize key issues surrounding the growing ecosystem threats from ocean acidification. The presentation will conclude with a discussion of future climate change, and how regional changes in ocean temperatures, acidity, winds and currents are likely to influence our marine ecosystems in the near and distant future.

Nathan Mantua is a Research Associate Professor in the School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences, adjunct faculty in Atmospheric Sciences and Marine Affairs, the Co- Director of the Center for Science in the Earth System at the University of Washington, and a research scientist with the PNW Station of the US Forest Service. He has been a member of the UW’s Climate Impacts Group since 1995. His research focuses on climate impacts on the water cycle, forests and aquatic ecosystems, and how climate information is or isn’t being used in resource management decisions.

He received a B S from the University of California at Davis in 1988, and a Ph D from the UW’s Department of Atmospheric Science in 1994. He spent one year as a postdoctoral Fellow at Scripps Institute of Oceanography working on a pilot project for the International Research Institute for Climate Prediction, and has worked at the University of Washington since 1995. In April 2000 he received a Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers for his climate impacts research and public outreach activities.

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