Maritime Awards Society of Canada

Alanna Mitchel is author of the first comprehensive book on the health of the world’s oceans, “Sea Sick”. This highly acclaimed book is a chronicle of Mitchell’s journey to visit leading scientists in nine of the global ocean’s hotspots to see firsthand what is really happening around the world. Whether it’s the impact of coral reef bleaching, the puzzle of the oxygen-less dead zones such as the one in the Gulf of Mexico, or the shocking implications of the changing Ph balance of the sea, Mitchell explains the science behind the story to create an engaging, accessible yet authoritative account. “Each chapter in the book blends lucid, factual explanation of complex subjects with engaging chronicles of the author’s travels to far-flung parts of the globe.” Quill & Quire “A strong examination of degraded global ocean health based on years of research with top world scientists.” The Vancouver Province
Location:Bob Wright Centre (SCI) – B150, University of Victoria – Victoria, BC
Times:19:00 – 22:00
Pricing:$10 general admission $8 students

The Importance of Oceans, Coasts, and Small Island Developing States in the Climate Regime

December 14, 2009 | 8:00 to 22:00
European Environment Agency, central Copenhagen

The Oceans Day event is organized by the Global Forum on Oceans, Coasts, and Islands, the Government of Indonesia and the European Environment Agency and 46 other entities from around the world.

The Oceans Day Program is attached. Registration is already at capacity but spaces have been reserved for government delegates and media accredited to COP-15.

The Oceans Day will highlight:

1. the central role of oceans in climate. Oceans generate oxygen, absorb carbon dioxide and regulate climate and temperature. Just as we cannot do without a healthy heart and lungs, the world cannot do without a healthy ocean;
2. the fact that the close to 50% of the human population that lives in coastal areas and the 44 small island countries that are especially dependent on the oceans are at the frontline of climate change.  Coastal populations in 173 coastal countries will suffer disproportionate impacts from ocean warming, sea level rise, extreme weather events, and ocean acidification.

Oceans Day at Copenhagen will urge the international community to:

1. Proceed with utmost caution to ensure the continuing functioning of the oceans in sustaining life on Earth by adopting the most stringent reductions in greenhouse gas emissions within a short time frame
2. Emphasize the positive contribution that oceans can play to mitigate global warming, for example, through ocean-based renewable energy (such as windpower), and through the use of natural carbon sinks in coastal areas, such as mangroves, kelp forests, and coral reefs
3. Begin immediately, and with sufficient financing, adaptation efforts in coastal communities and island nations in all regions of the world and prepare the public for the inevitable changes that will occur.

For more information on Oceans Day 2009 visit: http://www.ceoe.udel.edu/cmp/oceans_day/index.html

For more information on the Global Forum on Oceans, Coasts, and Islands visit: http://www.globaloceans.org/

The second talk in the 2009 Killam Public Lecture Series on Oceans and Global Change will be held November 26th, 2009 at 7:00 pm in the Ondaatje Auditorium, Marion McCain Arts and Social Sciences Building at Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia. A reception will follow. The address is 6135 University Avenue. The Lecture is entitled “The Arctic meltdown: an alarming symptom of global fever”.
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