Crisis In Our Ocean - The Climate Change Impact

Dr. Bruce Monger is one of our Advisory Board members and an incredible gifted teacher. Climate change can be complicated and difficult to understand, given its many nuances. In his course, Dr. Monger teaches students the basic framework of climate change issues, which helps place current news into context and gives students a broader perspective of the trajectory for global climate change — both with and without mitigation. You can watch this wonderful presentation by clicking on the link.

The dire consequences of the climate crisis are on full display in our world’s oceans. Rising temperatures, ocean acidification, and de-oxygenation are causing dramatic changes in our marine ecosystems. The impacts of these changes are as wide-ranging as they are alarming, from coral bleaching to more intense tropical storms and the loss of sea life and habitat.

The speed at which changes are taking place is perhaps the most concerning of all. We need rapid action to bring CO2 emissions to zero by mid-century if we are to save our oceans and thus ourselves.

Crisis in Our Oceans: The Climate Change Impact 

Study with Professor Monger

Sometime in the near future there will be an extended non-credit course covering oceanography in general. It culminates with a lot of attention on climate change and other global-scale impacts on the ocean - and on human societies survival.

Toward the end of the semester, after Dr. Monger has made clear the magnitude of the climate change problem and the lingering effects that will last thousands of years, he tells students that every so often a generation is called upon to do something extraordinary.  “This generation is now being called upon to decarbonise the entire global energy system by mid-century to save all of humanity.”

Dr. Monger’s words still inspire students to think deeply about ways they can take meaningful action and help create a sustainable future. Over the last 10 years, he has influenced many students to shift towards civically-minded careers in areas such as earth and atmospheric sciences, environmental law, civil engineering, architecture and chemical engineering.

It's important to be an informed citizen. Please share this work with friends, family and colleagues and join us in service for a healthy world for humans and nonhumans alike.

In good health