The Alaska Climate Thresholds webinar was held on Thursday, November 10, 2016 and hosted by the Alaska Ocean Observing System.
This virtual meeting focused on Climate Related Thresholds and explored the concept of climate thresholds and how it relates to coastal management.
Beth Turner (NOS/NCCOS) introduced the webinar with her presentation Climate Thresholds for Coastal Ecosystems.
During the first part of the webinar five presentations were featured:
- Forecasting Climate Change: What is the New Normal – Rick Thoman, National Weather Service
- Results of 5 Recent Coastal Resiliency Workshops and Aleutian Bering Sea Islands Climate Vulnerability Assessment – Aaron Poe, Aleutian and Bering Sea Islands Landscape Conservation Cooperative, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service
- Alaska Ocean Acidification Statewide Needs – Amanda Kelley, Alaska Ocean Acidification Research Center, UAF
- A Statewide View of Harmful Algal Blooms – Kris Holdereid, Kasitsna Bay Lab Director
- Fishery Manager Needs for Threshold/Tipping Point Products – Stephani Zador, NMFS Auke Bay Lab
The second part of the webinar involved a facilitated discussion to brainstorm potential research products that could help predict when/how previously ranked climate stressors could lead to surpassing thresholds and the utilization of thresholds in management.
Results from the discussion will inform planning by the NOAA National Ocean Service. Specifically, the goal is to be able to identify potential research products or tools that will help managers think about climate thresholds relating to ecological forecasting of ocean acidification, harmful algal blooms and nearshore fish habitat and identify when a threshold is impending, how to delay or avoid passing a threshold, or how to manage successfully through a threshold.