Ocean Observations for Society and Sustainable Development
Understanding and Prediction in an Age of Changing Ocean Conditions

OceanObs is a decadal meeting that gathers parties related to ocean observations to maintain/enhance ocean observation of the next decade.

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Potential major themes of the meeting are:

Blue Economy

• Adaptation of physical processes in the natural world to devise solutions to environmental problems of oceanic origins for the betterment of human life; applications to fields such as agriculture, ecosystem services, fisheries  

Ocean Hazards and Opportunities

• Tsunamis
• Sea-level rise
• Year-round, commercial navigation and fishing in the Arctic Ocean  

Climate Variability and Change

• Natural variability in wind- and density-driven ocean heat transport, temperature, and evaporation causing variability in precipitation, temperature, storminess on land
• Impacts of global warming on land unpredictable due to heat absorption/sequestration in oceans

Water-Food-Health-Energy Securities

• Freshwater availability on land; river flows, including trans-boundary rivers and their potential for conflicts
• Agricultural production
• Inland, water-borne transportation of cargo, including food and agricultural inputs
• Hydro-electricity generation
• Variability in fish and other seafood catches due to natural and anthropogenic variability/changes in the coupled ocean physical-biological system
• Water-borne diseases such as cholera, E. coli, and typhoid; and vector-borne diseases such as malaria, dengue, and Zika
• Health insecurities caused by malnutrition due to water and food insecurities
• Socio-economic and political strife and conflicts, leading to national and international insecurity, even armed conflicts and wars        

Ecosystem Health and Biodiversity

• Impacts of natural climate variability of oceanic origin on forests, wetlands, and pastures; associated impacts on flora and fauna
• Habitat destruction and consequent effects on biodiversity
• Coral bleaching

Ocean Acidification

• Adverse impacts on metabolic rates of oceanic organisms
• Adverse impacts on calcification rates, leading to dissolution of structures made of calcium carbonate