University Of Hawai'i To Co-Host Workshop Regarding the Climate Impact On Ecosystems And Biodiversity in the North Pacific

WHAT: Impact of Climate Variability on Observation and Prediction of Ecosystem and Biodiversity Changes in the North Pacific

Sponsored by the North Pacific Marine Science Organization (PICES), the International Pacific Research Center (IPRC), University of Hawaiʻi, and the Census of Marine Life (through the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation).

WHEN: March 7~9, 2001, 9:00am.

WHERE: Imin Conference Center, East-West Center, Asia Room

BACKGROUND ON THE CONFERENCE

Variations in climate, such as El Niño-La Niña events, alter the ocean circulation of warm and cold waters and nutrients. Such variations in the ocean affect marine plant life and the composition, size, and health of fish communities, including salmons and sharks.

This PICES workshop brings together marine and atmospheric scientists, oceanographers, and fish biologists from North Pacific Rim nations (Canada, China, Japan, Korea, Russia and the United States). They will review observations on how North Pacific marine ecosystems and diversity of plant and animal life vary over time. The focus will be on the physical and chemical state of the ocean and atmosphere, marine plant life, zooplankton, fish and crustaceans, and marine mammals and birds. One of the workshop's goals is to produce a report on the North Pacific outlining the status and trends of these ecosystem components and describing the influence of climate variability on those trends. A second goal is to plan collaborative marine ecosystem research in the North Pacific in order understand and monitor these trends better. As the ocean circulation and marine life do not recognize national boundaries, international collaboration is central to the success of this research.

The long-rage goal of this workshop, and of PICES, is to be able to predict better the consequences of global change and human activities on the ecosystems of the North Pacific. The purpose of PICES is to coordinate scientific research that advances our knowledge of variations and change in North Pacific Ocean climate and its marine life and environment.

The International Pacific Research Center, which is hosting the workshop, is an international program under the "Japan-United States Common Agenda for Cooperation in Global Perspective" to promote understanding of the nature and predictability of Asian-Pacific climate. It was founded October 1997 within the School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology, University of Hawai'i at Manoa.