Climate change is the most important threat to the Earth. Even if we stabilize carbon emissions, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change warns that warming will continue for decades and sea level will continue to rise for centuries. Some direct effects of climate change in the marine environment are already visible, but other need to be defined by enhanced observations, analysis and modelling. Given that we have only a rudimentary understanding of the sensitivity and adaptibility of natural and managed ecosystems to climate change, an assesment of the consequences of climate change on the World's Oceans has a high scientific and social relevance and is urgently needed. The Symposium will focus on the major issues of climate change that affect the oceans. The Symposium will bring together results from observation, analyses, and model simulation, at a global scale, and will include discussion of the climate change scenarios and the possibilities for mitigating and protecting the marine environment.

Sponsored by: ICES/CIEM, PICES, IOC/UNESCO, ICSU Scientific Committee on Oceanic Research, WCRP
Website: http://www.pices.int/climate_change.aspx