Global Ocean Acidification Day of Action

On this Global Ocean Acidification Day of Action, we recognize that the ocean’s pH balance is key to the health of ocean ecosystems.?Did you know that the greatest threat to this balance is excessive carbon dioxide from the atmosphere??Oceans absorb huge amounts of CO2 in the atmosphere, which helps offset the effects of climate change….but there’s a down side—it results in increased acidification of seawater, which can seriously disrupt marine ecosystems and the commercial and recreational fisheries that rely on them.?In addition to the Secretary of State serving on the State’s Ocean Acidification Task Force in their work to develop a State Ocean Acidification Action Plan, several #DOS programs are working daily to reduce carbon emissions and protect ocean and other critical ecosystems.?

Check out the page about Ocean Acidification in a story about Shellfish and a page on excess CO2 in a story about Eelgrass on the South Shore Estuary focus page on DOS’ Gateway.?Learn more about ocean acidification at?https://www.oaalliance.org/ ?And take a look at NY’s updated Ocean Action Plan, co-authored by DOS and DEC, at https://dos.ny.gov/system/files/documents/2020/08/ny_ocean_action_plan.pdf??