Acidification model being updated to reflect present-day conditions

Researchers working to develop a computer model that predicts how the Southern California Bight will be affected by ocean acidification and hypoxia (OAH) have begun updating the model to reflect present-day environmental conditions.

The model, which SCCWRP will work to update in the coming months, was initially calibrated to describe OAH conditions in the 1990s, a period that included an array of El Niño and La Niña conditions that were conducive for assessing model performance.

For the model update, researchers will use more recent atmospheric carbon dioxide levels and nutrient levels being discharged to the coastal ocean.

This next phase of model development is being initiated in partnership with two CTAG stakeholder subcommittees that are advising SCCWRP.

At a January 23 meeting, the first advisory committee provided feedback to SCCWRP on model validation analyses from the 1990s; the committee had requested these additional analyses last year.

A second stakeholder advisory committee, which met for the first time on January 13 at SCCWRP, has begun working on an assessment framework that will help shape how researchers produce modeling outputs for the various future nutrient loading scenarios that will be run through the model.