Report on CO2 measuring project

Home Front Environmental Justice, Morro Bay has been collecting and recording atmospheric Carbon Dioxide (CO2) data as part of the Morro Bay Estuary Air Monitoring (MBEAM) project since March 2020. Recently we were invited to a virtual meeting with some of Cal Poly SLO University (Cal Poly SLO) academia working on climate change and its effects on our local environment.

We met Dr. Emily E. Bockmon who is a professor of Marine Science at Cal Poly SLO, and is teaching marine chemistry. Emily and her team of students have been collecting estuarine water samples and are studying Ocean Acidification (OA) in the Morro Bay Estuary. We were invited to join Emily’s team on their water sampling route, where her students collected water samples at six different locations in the estuary. While her students took water samples around the estuary, we provide local atmospheric CO2 data. By providing local atmospheric CO2 data while the water samples are being taken, we hope to provide Emily and her students information that will help us understand the correlation between atmospheric CO2, the amount of CO2 in the water and the relationship to OA.

An integral part of the MBEAM project is to collaborate with our future climate action leaders and create opportunities for young ‘citizen scientist’ to get involved in helping address the climate crisis that humanity finds themselves in. Home Front EJ had recently reached out to Los Osos Middle School (LOMS) and have invited students to become ‘citizen scientist’ and join Emily’s team in collecting CO2 data around the estuary. We are planning to continue to collaborate with Dr. Bockmon in the upcoming 2021 school year and are looking forward to working alongside our young future citizen scientist from our local public schools.

For more information on Emily and her team check out the link below:

https://bockmon.wixsite.com/oceancarbonlab

Richard E.T. Sadowski

Home Front Environmental Justice, Morro Bay (Home Front EJ)