The role of the ocean in our shared climate future is difficult to overstate and increasingly complex. Marine carbon dioxide removal, the blue economy, sustainable fisheries and aquaculture, sea level rise, and ocean warming are just a few of the ways it could help, or hinder, human security and prosperity. But do we have the knowledge—knowledge based on hard-won observational data—to make the smart decisions that could set us on the path toward sustainability for generations? This panel will ask what we need to know in order to help guide decision-making across society and how the oceanographic community will prioritize the many emerging needs that a global ocean observing system is being asked to meet.
