The next 10 years may be the most important in the next 10,000 years – the best chance our species will have to protect what remains of the natural systems that give us life. — Sylvia Earle
Forum Chair: Dr. Susan Shaw, FN’07
Moderator: Dr. Sylvia Earle, MED’81
Lecture Series Chair: Anne Doubilet, FR’02
Panelists: Dr. Nancy Knowlton; Dr. David Gallo, FN’90; Dr. David Guggenheim, FN’08; Mr. Jim Fowler, MED’66
7:00 – 7:05 Introductions by Anne Doubilet and Susan Shaw
7:05 – 7:10 Video Clip: Excerpt from Sylvia Earle’s 2009 TED Talk
7:10 – 7:30 Saving the Blue Heart of the Planet — Sylvia Earle
Last February, Dr. Earle made a TED wish to create a campaign igniting public support for a global network of Marine Protected Areas – “hope spots” to save and restore the planet. The world is responding. Where are we now?
7:30 – 7:45 Confronting the Invisible Threat: Ocean Pollution — Susan Shaw
Huge volumes of toxic chemicals used in consumer products and plastics are polluting our seas, contaminating the ocean food web. Can marine species be saved? Efforts to stop toxics at the source, clean up sea litter, and develop clean technologies give hope.
7:45 - 8:00 Indicators of Change: Ocean Acidification and the Vanishing Reefs — Nancy Knowlton
Increased CO2 is radically altering ocean chemistry and taking its toll on all forms of life at sea. Already 50% of the world’s coral reefs have disappeared. Dramatic reduction in carbon emissions and changes in management could help reverse the trend.
8:00 – 8:15 Hope from the Deep: Saving the Ocean Floor — David Gallo
At the bottom of the sea, mining, drilling and trawling threaten the very foundation of the ocean ecosystem. Are new technologies and clean energy alternatives the solution?
8:15 – 8:30 Ocean Policy and Education: Time for A Sea Change — David Guggenheim
Momentum is mounting in the US and abroad to create the first comprehensive oceans policy, but will it protect the oceans of today? Tomorrow? A new generation of ocean stewards voice their concerns. Are we listening?
8:30 – 8:40 The Wild Sea — Jim Fowler
The open ocean has long been a place regarded as free – free to travel without bounds, free to take what is there, and free to dispose of what is no longer wanted. But beneath the surface of the “lawless sea,” basic laws of nature support life on our planet. Now is the time to start obeying them.
8:40 – 9:00 Open Discussion with Panelists
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