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Thank you, Madam Chair, for calling this critical hearing to discuss how climate change may affect the future of our oceans and their living marine resources. I am pleased that this committee is so actively investigating the burgeoning issue of ocean acidification–a topic that in just a few short years has developed from a relatively unknown theory into what is potentially one of the most disconcerting aspects of ocean-related climate science. Lost in much of the discussion of climate change has been its potential impacts on the oceans’ corals, fish, and other species. Recent research– much of it conducted by members of our esteemed panel of witnesses–has indicated that as a direct result of the precipitous increase in carbon dioxide in our atmosphere, our oceans are warming and becoming more acidic. If we continue to allow emissions of carbon dioxide to increase, we could see drastic, worldwide impacts in our oceans, from species migration and coral bleaching to widespread extinctions. The oceans drive much of our Nation’s economy, as well as that of my home state of Maine. Throughout our state’s history, stewardship of our marine resources has pervaded our maritime activities. Nowhere is this more evident than in our lobster fishery, which for generations has engaged in self-imposed, sustainable fishing practices. The result of that stewardship is a robust industry that landed over 270 million dollars worth of lobster in 2006. Today, that fishery faces potential danger. Not from the activities of our lobstermen, but from the potential effects of global climate change. In 1999, the lobstermen of Long Island Sound began pulling up pots full of dead lobster. According to a study by Connecticut’s Sea Grant program, that fall, commercial landings from western Long Island Sound plummeted an astounding 99 percent from the previous year. Nearly three-quarters of the Sound’s lobstermen lost all of their income that. The study concluded that, quote “the physiology of the lobsters was severely stressed by sustained, hostile environmental conditions, driven by above average water temperatures,” endquote. In other words, warming ocean temperatures created conditions that killed these lobsters and decimated the fishery. The lobster industry’s collapse in Long Island Sound may be a harbinger for other fisheries. Evidence is mounting that anthropogenic emissions of greenhouse gasses–carbon dioxide in particular–are disrupting the forces that drive our climate and in turn, our oceans. Approximately a third to a half of global manmade carbon dioxide emissions have already been absorbed into the world’s oceans. This amount will double by 2050, and all indications are that this will increase the acidity of the oceans’ surface and could initiate the largest change in pH to occur in as many as 200 million years. Clearly, the consequences of such a shift could be catastrophic. Which is why my colleague Senator Kerry and I introduced S. 485, the Global Warming Reduction Act of 2007. This legislation is the only introduced climate bill that specifically calls for research to address the vulnerability of marine organisms throughout the food chain to increased carbon dioxide emissions. It also requires an assessment of probability that such a change will cost us more than 40 percent of our coral reefs–delicate ecosystems that are especially vulnerable to both ocean acidification and warming. And coral reefs are just as integral to the economy and heritage of tropical states such as Florida and Hawaii as fisheries are to Maine. In order to protect these resources, we must understand what is happening to them. The final report of the U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy, chaired by Admiral Watkins who is testifying before us today, calls for development and implementation of a sustained integrated ocean observing system to provide the data necessary to understand the complex oceanic and atmospheric systems– including pH, temperature, salinity and the speed and direction of currents– that comprise our oceans. I know the scientists here today also support that initiative, and I support it as well. In each of the past two Congresses, I have introduced a bill to authorize an integrated ocean observing system and develop a National framework to oversee and our numerous, successful, independent regional observing systems. Twice this bill has passed the Senate unanimously, but failed to pass the House. I have introduced a new version of this bill–the Coastal and Ocean Observation Systems Act of 2007, S. 950– in the 110th Congress, with sixteen bi-partisan co-sponsors, and I am working closely with members from both chambers to ensure that this bill becomes law as soon as possible. Mounting evidence linking carbon emissions to potentially devastating changes in the hydrology of our oceans compels us to act now to protect the future of the irreplaceable resources found beneath the waves. I will continue to do everything in my power to provide our scientists with the requisite tools to carry our their research and ensure that we prevent further damage to these vital ecosystems. I thank Doctors Feely, Conover, Doney, Kruse, and Hansen and Admiral Watkins for taking the time to engage in what I believe will be a fruitful and fascinating discussion, and I look forward to hearing all of your testimony. Thank you, Madam Chair.
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