The Mid-Atlantic is the most densely populated and urbanized region of the United States. Its developed coastal counties drain nutrients and other materials through the region’s rivers, into several major estuarine systems. The broad continental shelf of the Mid-Atlantic undergoes the most extreme annual changes in temperature in the world’s ocean, and these seasonal temperature changes cue a wide range of ecological processes. These dynamics structure shellfish and migratory fish habitats that support economically valuable commercial and recreational fisheries. Present and future generations will be challenged by accelerating global impacts, including rising sea levels, a warming ocean, and estuarine and coastal acidification. Acidification has significant scientific and societal ramifications including the alteration of ocean biogeochemistry, ecological consequences associated with altered ecosystems, and economic losses due to the decreased survival of commercially important organisms. The recently developed Mid-Atlantic Coastal Acidification Network (MACAN) works to develop a better understanding of the processes associated with estuarine, coastal and ocean acidification, predict the consequences for marine resources, and devise local adaptation strategies that enable communities and industries to better prepare and adapt.

Acidification research efforts in the Mid-Atlantic will be the focus of this second MACAN webinar. Chris Chambers, NOAA James J. Howard Marine Sciences Laboratory, will provide a 20-minute presentation on acidification impacts to finfish species in Mid-Atlantic followed by a 20-minute presentation on acidification impacts to shellfish (speaker TBD). The presentations will be followed by a 15-minute Q&A session.

Date/Time: Jan. 17, 1-2 p.m.

Registration: Please register at https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/268835370515016452. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar.