About the workshop

Marine environments play important role in modulating the weather and climate processes at local, regional and global scales. Biological communities that inhabit diverse marine environments are important players in modulating these processes including cycling of carbon and nitrogen. Regional seas and oceans in South and South East Asia harbor rich coastal biotopes such as mangroves, lagoons, estuaries and intertidal zones. For example, more than 400 million people surrounding the regional seas located in South and South East Asia are dependent on rich marine resources including for food, livelihood and security. In particular, monsoonal patterns in this region critical to cropping cycle and livelihood are strongly influenced by the regional seas and oceans directly or indirectly. There has been a significant rise in atmospheric CO2 concentration due to continuous burning of fossil fuels and projected to rise reaching up to 970 ppm by the end of this century and 1900 ppm by the year 2300. The acidity of the world’s oceans is increasing by absorbing atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2). As a result the average pH of ocean surface have thought to decline by 0.1 unit from pre-industrial level and projected to decrease by 0.3 to 0.46 units by the end of this century, concurrent with the present CO2 emission scenario. The resulting decline in ocean pH referred to as ocean acidification (OA) pose a very serious threat to marine environments globally including biological communities that inhabit these environments and are critical to influencing and weather as well as climate processes.

The regional seas and oceans of South East and East Asia are undergoing rapid ocean acidification and the effects on biogeochemical cycling, ecosystems and the services they provide will have significant consequences for the rich marine biodiversity and associated social and economic livelihoods of communities. The effects of coastal acidification on the regional seas and oceans remain largely unknown and can have immense consequences for livelihood. There is a need to coordinate, understand and measure ocean and coastal acidifications and quantify consequences in regional seas by scientists residing in SAARC and ASEAN member countries.

Scope of the workshop

Leading experts in ocean acidification research will build capacity of scientists from SAARC and ASEAN member countries.The training will focus around the GOA-ON and OA-ICC key areas in carbonate chemistry, biological effects, experimental and monitoring approaches and modelling.Participants will be invited to present their ocean acidification research and the workshop will assist in optimizing future developments across the case studies with special focus on relevance for UN SDG 14.3.The long-term outcome of this workshop is the development of a regional hub for coordinated OA research across the regional seas and oceans in South and South East Asia.

Organised by


Centre for Climate and Environmental Studies (CCES)
Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) Kolkata