Brisbane: Lecture on Oceans and Climate Change

BrisScience: Friend or Foe? The Ocean¹s Response to Climate Change presented
by Dr Ben McNeil
Time: 6:30pm to 7:30pm (Doors open at 6pm)
Monday 8 December, 2008
Venue: Ithaca Auditorium, Brisbane City Hall
Refreshments: There will be complimentary drinks and nibblies following the
talk, and Ben will be available to answer any questions.

*********

Friend or Foe? The Ocean’s Response to Climate Change
Carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere is the principle driver of future
climate change. Atmospheric CO2 concentrations have increased 30% beyond
pre-industrial levels through human combustion of fossil-fuel carbon and
will continue to increase rapidly into the future. The ocean covers 70% of
the earths surface, is the largest active reservoir of carbon on earth and
is the most important natural sink for reducing anthropogenic atmospheric
CO2. The ocean controls atmospheric CO2through both biological cycling
(phytoplankton production) and solubility cycling (thermodynamics). Here I
will discuss the latest scientific understanding governing climate change
impacts on the ocean : including implications for global circulation and
heat transport, oceanic CO2 uptake, pH acidification and changes in oceanic
biological production. I can then synthesize the likely future implications
in order to answer whether the oceans will be working for us or against us
in slowing climate change.

Ben McNeil is an Australian academic who is an expert in a range of areas
relating to climate change science, policy and energy.
Completing his PhD in 2001 he worked as a research fellow at Princeton
University, USA and returned to Australia in 2004, where he is now a senior
research fellow at the Climate Change Research Centre at the University of
New South Wales. In 2007, he was chosen as an expert reviewer for the United
Nations Inter-Governmental Panel on Climate Change 4th assessment report and
was invited to present his research to the Prime Minister and cabinet at
Parliament House in Canberra. He was also recently elected to represent
young scientists in the Federation of Australian Science and Technological
Societies.

His writing on climate change and energy policy has been widely published in
Australia¹s newspapers including the Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, The
Australian and The Canberra Times. He has also made numerous radio and
television appearances including ABC Radio National, CNN, BBC and Sky News
Australia.

************