The Changing Ocean

Societal Challenge Ocean warming, decreasing sea ice, changing currents, rising seas, ocean acidification, and deoxygenation are affecting the nation's valuable living marine resources and many ocean-dependent businesses and communities. These changes impact the nation's security through many sectors from marine navigation, transportation, and energy, to fisheries, aquaculture, and protected resources. Overview: The ocean is a dynamic and connected component of the earth system. It plays a pivotal role in the global 47 weather and climate system by absorbing and redistributing both heat and carbon dioxide, and provides the largest source of water vapor for global precipitation. Human-caused carbon emissions have led to ocean warming, acidification, deoxygenation, and decreasing sea-ice. To safeguard fisheries and marine-dependent communities in the face of a rapidly changing ocean, resource managers and other decision-makers urgently need better information on what is changing, who is at risk, what to plan for and how to respond. Examples of appropriate research topic areas for applications from small businesses include, but are not limited to products and services that accomplish the following objectives: Support monitoring of marine health including remote sensing and in-situ monitoring technologies, for regionally-optimized ocean ecosystem and biogeochemical observations Support increased protection and restoration of marine and coastal habitats to enhance vital ecosystems Support innovative observation and exploration of the ocean, including the deep ocean, and improved data assimilation into ocean models, to improve understanding and promote more effective management of ocean resources Help living marine resource managers prepare for and respond to the impacts of a changing climate, ocean acidification, and other climate impacts, and develop management strategies for marine ecosystem conditions and adaptation plans to manage risk from the changing ocean and other stressors Facilitate sustainable and productive aquaculture practices and facilities, including new applications for uncrewed systems and environmental DNA applications to reduce illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing Support access to robust forecasts, projections, risk assessments and management strategies to optimize fisheries management and increase the resilience of marine resources and the communities that depend on them Facilitate quantification of short- to long-term outlooks and projections of Arctic sea ice Support safe and efficient marine transportation, reduce maritime incidents in U.S. waters by providing timely and accurate navigational information, or facilitate preparedness and response to maritime incidents and emergencies Support advancements in offshore wind energy production including data-based technologies and uncrewed systems applications