Local OA Response strategies
Three multi-benefit examples from Washington
http://www.ecy.wa.gov/water/marine/oceanacidification.html
By Brad Warren
globaloceanhealth.org
Introduction
—  Who we are
—  Example 1: Biogas digesters: tackling multiple
problems
—  Example 2: Coastal vegetation and OA
—  Example 3: Pilot on SLR v OA
1. Dairy methane, nutrient runoff
Among U.S. dairies larger than 300 cows in 2000, 75% were spreading
manure at rates exceeding crop needs for nitrogen; 96% exceeded crop needs
for phosphorus. SOURCE: Ribaudo et al 2003, per WSU Fact Sheet 040E.
Anthropogenic increase in bio-available N exceeds increase in CO2,
SOURCE: Howarth et al 2002
Game changer on nutrients: Trust
Terry Williams,
Tulalip Tribes,
reached out to
farmers and
hit “reset” button
Reducing nutrients and emissions
Ø  Nationwide, dairy manure digesters reduce CO2e emissions
by > 860,000 t, generating 52.8 mw of power.
Ø  Six dairy digesters in Washington reduced CO2e emissions by 44,870 t.
Ø  Tulalip’s project has enfranchised farmers in habitat, water quality efforts.
Core System!
Transportation
Food
Processing
Waste
Carbon
Credits
Anaerobic
Digester
Bio-fertilizer
50% N, 90% P
Nutrient Recovery
S2
S1
Dairy Manure
Ammonium
Sulfate Crystals
Other
Organics
Peat Moss Substitute
and Cow Bedding
Greenhouses & Digesters: Powerful Synergies
AD System outputs:
•  CO2
•  Reclaimed water
•  Nutrients (NPK, micro)
•  Fiber, potting soil
Greenhouse inputs
7
2. Coastal vegetation and OA
—3-4 studies under way on West Coast, 1 on East
— Coast Focus on seagrass & kelp
Preliminary results
—clear effects from photosynthesis
—strong diurnal signal
—conditions matter: depth, flow,
density etc
First documented refuge?
3. SLR vs OA?
Storm in South Korea, 2012.
Reuters
Is there a silver lining?
1 meter of sea level rise…
—  In U.S., inundated area =
size of New Jersey
—  Can we learn to manage
this new coastal
inundation zone?
—  Huge potential to deliver
—flood protection
—fisheries & aquaculture
—acidification refuges
—carbon sequestration
Delicate ribbon of coastal carbon burial
0.5% of ocean area roughly matches all world forests
——Mcleod et al 2011: A blueprint for blue carbon, Front Ecol Environ, 9:552-560
Total vegetated marine habitat (seagrass, mangrove, saltmarsh)
Is 1.7 million sq km today.
Nicholls, RJ and multiple authors, 2007. Chapter 6 Coastal systems and low-lying areas. IPCC Working Group 2,
Fourth Assessment Report: Climate Change 2007. (Table 6.12)
Can we make SLR into a friend?
Projected change in habitat at Grays Harbor with 1m increase
Amount of change
NWI habitat categories
Sea Level Rise
Our Habitat Category
A1B
75cm
1m
Dry Land
Dry Land
88%
87%
86%
Nontidal Swamp
Forest
43%
41%
34%
Inland Fresh Marsh
Scrub/Shrub Cover
45%
44%
39%
Tidal Fresh Marsh
High Emergent Marsh
11%
10%
6%
Transitional Marsh / Scrub Shrub
Scrub/Shrub Cover
265x
263x
199x
2.4x
2.6x
4.1x
Regularly Flooded Marsh (Saltmarsh) High Emergent Marsh
Estuarine Beach
Cobble/gravel/Sand beach
67.7%
66.7%
49.5%
Tidal Flat
Mud Flat/Sand Flat
16.6%
16.7%
17.1%
Inland Open Water
Open Water
53.1%
51.9%
48.6%
Riverine Tidal Open Water
Open Water
7.5%
7.4%
7.0%
Estuarine Open Water
Aquatic Vegetation Beds?
2.5x
2.6x
2.6x
Irregularly Flooded Marsh
High Emergent Marsh
6x
6.1x
5.8x
91.2%
90.4%
77.7%
3.1%
2.7%
1.6%
Inland Shore
Tidal Swamp
Forest
Note that in Table3 we provide the rough equivalent of the NWI habitats from our habitat
Climate Change in the Chehalis River and Grays Harbor Estuary, Wild Fish Conservancy 2012
categories. Several of these are fairly clear (﴾e.g. “tidal flat” is equivalent to our sand and mud
flats)﴿, but the “estuary open water” category from the NWI classifications is not easily broken
Can high-res data give communities
power to manage change?
1m vertical
15cm vertical