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    Humans are an integral component of the Earth system as conceptualised by IGBP. João Morais recalls key milestones in IGBP’s engagement with the social sciences and offers some words of advice for Future Earth.
  • IGBP and Earth observation:
    a co-evolution


    The iconic images of Earth beamed back by the earliest spacecraft helped to galvanise interest in our planet’s environment. The subsequent evolution and development of satellites for Earth observation has been intricately linked with that of IGBP and other global-change research programmes, write Jack Kaye and Cat Downy .
Published: March 28, 2014

Ocean Acidification website launched

News |

A new Ocean Acidification website has been launched that brings together new ocean acidification infographics, publications, background information, presentations and news for researchers, policymakers and the public. 

The new website provides information on Ocean Acidification based on the recently published Summary for Policymakers.


Ocean acidification by numbers:


40%: The increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) levels since the start of the industrial revolution.

26%: The increase in ocean acidity from preindustrial levels to today.

24 million: The number of tonnes of CO2 the ocean absorbs every day.

10 times: The current rate of acidification is over 10 times faster than any time in the last 55 million years.


The website ocean-acidification.net has been developed by the International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme (IGBP), the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC-UNESCO), the Scientific Committee on Oceanic Research (SCOR) and the Ocean Acidification International Coordination Centre (OA-ICC) of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)..

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Please note!

IGBP closed at the end of 2015. This website is no longer updated.

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