A leading scientist will address an international conference today on research into climate change in the waters off Bermuda.

Dr. Nick Bates, Associate Director of Research at the Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences (BIOS), is to give a presentation on carbon and ocean acidification to the Partnership for Observation of the Global Oceans (POGO).

BIOS plays a crucial role in monitoring global warming through its unique proximity to sub-tropical coral reefs and deep-ocean environments.

The institution at Ferry Reach has the longest-running time series into ocean global warming, through the carbon cycle data programme Hydrostation S (1954) and the Bermuda Atlantic Time Series (BATS) (1988).

Scientists have also been monitoring ocean acidification since 1983 — the longest-running research into how changes in chemistry are affecting coral reefs, such as bleaching.

Dr. Bates's observations into the impact of human CO2 production has helped to shape global protocols such as the 1997 Kyoto Agreement and he contributed to last year's Nobel Peace Prize through his work for the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

His lecture 'Bermuda Time Series Observations: Carbon and Ocean Acidification' is part of a three-day international conference being hosted by BIOS. Scientists from oceanographic institutions have converged at the Ferry Reach facility in an attempt to forge an integrated ocean observing system.

POGO began in 1999 at the United Nations Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC), and meets once a year as a forum to promote global oceanography.

It includes institutions performing ocean observations, scientific research, operational services, education and training, but also attracts international programs and organisations.

Members include the British Antarctic Survey, the Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS), Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC), the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) (US), The Met Office (UK), First Institute of Oceanography (China), and P.P. Shirshov Institute of Oceanology (Russia).