The State of the Pacific Ocean: Climate Change and the Case for Expanded Hemispheric Cooperation

Spanning nearly 63 million square miles from California to China, the Pacific Ocean is by the far the largest of the world's ocean basins. The Pacific contains more than half of the free water on the planet and is the deepest ocean on Earth. Climate change impacts are being felt around the globe, but what do we do about it? Much of the ocean is still waiting to be explored, but human activities like industrial fishing, deep-sea mining, and fossil-fuel burning are changing it in significant ways. Scripps Institution of Oceanography professor Brice Semmens moderates a discussion with NOAA Administrator, Richard Spinrad and State Department Deputy Assistant Secretary of Ocean, Fisheries and Polar Affairs, Maxine Burkett on the State of the Pacific Ocean and how the hemisphere can work together to combat the growing effects of climate change. Series: "Institute of the Americas" [Public Affairs] [Science] [Show ID: 38162]