The Launch

The Marine Ecosystem Assessment for the Southern Ocean: Summary for Policymakers was launched in Hobart on October 18, 2023. The Summary for Policymakers coincides with the international meeting of the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR). the assessment provides a timely update of scientific finding on the changes in the ecosystems of the Southern Ocean.

MEASO

In 2018, MEASO (Marine Ecosystem Assessment for the Southern Ocean) was formed. It is a global endeavour including more than 200 scientists from 19 countries with varied representation. MEASO’s mission is to completely analyse the state and changes of Southern Ocean ecosystems, as well as the underlying mechanisms that cause these changes. As part of a special study subject, 24 research articles were published in the journal ‘Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution’.

MEASO is part of the Integrating Climate and Ecosystem Dynamics in the Southern Ocean (ICED) initiative, which is part of the Integrated Marine Biosphere Research (IMBeR) programme, which is administered collaboratively by the Scientific Committee on Oceanic Research (SCOR) and Future Earth. The Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR) and the Southern Ocean Observing System (SOOS) both support it.

2023 MEASO Policymakers’ Summary

The five-year MEASO process was designed in the form of a working group of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). MEASO serves as the Southern Ocean analogue to an IPCC report, offering a basic and concise overview of scientific findings to educate global policymakers.

Constable, A.J., J. Melbourne-Thomas, M.M.C. Muelbert, S. McCormack, M. Brasier, J.A. Caccavo, R.D. Cavanagh, S.M. Grant, H.J. Griffiths, J. Gutt, S.F. Henley, J. Höfer, A.B. Hollowed, N.M. Johnston, S.A. Morley, E.J. Murphy, M.H. Pinkerton, I.R. Schloss, K.M. Swadling, A.P. Van de Putte (2023) Marine Ecosystem Assessment for the Southern Ocean: Summary for Policymakers. Integrated Climate and Ecosystem Dynamics in the Southern Ocean, Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research, Scientific Committee on Oceanic Research, Integrated Marine Biosphere Research, doi: 10.5281/zenodo.8359585