DUE TO CAMPUS SNOW CLOSURE THIS TALK HAS BEEN CANCELED

Climate change is threatening the survival of Tonga and other South Pacific nations. It is causing sea level to rise, putting coastal communities at risk, and warming ocean temperatures, increasing the strength of cyclones/hurricanes. Cyclone Gita (2018), the strongest cyclone in history to make landfall on Tonga, caused significant damage.

The Living Snow Project is a community enabled science (aka "citizen science") program that engages the outdoor recreation community in science that is revealing impacts of climate change on biology in snowy alpine environments.

Marilyn Baptiste, a former chief of the Xeni Gwet’in First Nation in B.C. looks over land in the Nemiah Valley that she fought to have legally declared as Tsilhqot’in territory. Photo Louis Bockner.

Indigenous Peoples of North America have always had to accommodate and respond to environmental change. Oral histories, recollections of contemporary elders, and terms in their numerous languages have allowed understandings of responses to change, most recently since the colonial era. Traditional knowledge systems incorporate adaptive capacity. Now, however, many people have noted signs of greater environmental change and challenges to their resilience than in the past: species declines and new appearances; anomalies in weather patterns; and declining health of forests and grasslands.

Ocean acidification (OA) threatens marine resources and coastal communities around the Salish Sea. These threats have spurred action to address the causes and consequences of OA. Intensified research and monitoring have advanced our understanding of ocean acidification and its effects on local marine life, public processes have led to legislation, and education and outreach have promoted understanding across diverse audiences. I will briefly summarize the causes of ocean acidification and follow with descriptions of some of the recent science and policy advances in the Salish Sea.

Pacific oysters are an integral part of Puget Sound's ecology, economy, and culture. However, the environmental, economic, and social benefits of oysters are endangered by ocean acidification. In this talk, This talk will explore how ocean acidification affects multiple generations of oysters. Temporarily exposing adult Pacific oysters (Crassostrea gigas) to low pH prior to gametogenesis affects larval abundance.