Congresswoman Chellie Pingree (D-Maine) today announced Bigelow Laboratories in East Boothbay, Maine has received a grant of $1,997,178 from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to study deep-ocean ecosystem resiliency in the face of climate change and human-caused environmental impacts.
“Two-thirds of Earth’s surface is covered by deep
ocean seafloor, but we don’t know much about these ecosystems or their ability to withstand human impact. Carbon sequestration could irreversibly change the seafloor environment and could contribute to a rapidly warming and changing climate,” said Pingree. “Bigelow Labs is doing key work to better understand what’s going on in our oceans, and this significant investment will help them research the deep waters of the Gulf of Maine.”NSF’s Crustal Ocean Biosphere Research Accelerator (COBRA) project connects diverse stakeholders and experts – interdisciplinary academic and government scientists, private institutions, policy makers, industry experts and other stakeholders – through virtual meetings to coordinate efforts. The goal is to generate new knowledge and inform decision-making relating to emergent industrial uses of the deep ocean and decrease the likelihood of serious harm to the environment while maintaining the broad benefits that society currently enjoys.
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