ACIDIFICATION: Coral reefs are one of the many victims of ocean acidification.
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Carbon dioxide emissions are turning the world's oceans more acidic, endangering coral reefs and fisheries, the science academies of 70 nations warned today in a joint statement.
The effect could be irreversible for tens of thousands of years, the academies said. They urged countries attending U.N. climate negotiations in Bonn, Germany, this week to cut the world's CO2 emissions at least 50 percent below 1990 levels by 2050, with additional cuts after that.
Without such action, the consequences will be stark, the academies said. "At current emission rates models suggest that all coral reefs and polar ecosystems will be severely affected by 2050 or potentially even earlier," they wrote.
Some climate models suggest that, at current CO2 emissions levels, 80 percent of Arctic waters could prove corrosive to clams, pteropods and other species at the base of the polar food chain by 2060, the new statement said.
If the level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere reaches 550 parts per million -- compared with the current 387 ppm level -- "coral reefs may be dissolving globally."
For humans, a major impact would likely be a resulting decline in the world's fishery production.
Scientists have already begun to document how rising CO2 emissions are driving changes in the world's oceans. Since the 17th century, the seas have absorbed about a third of human-caused carbon dioxide emissions. That has resulted in water 30 percent more acidic than it was before factories, cars, planes and other fossil fuel-burning machines became widespread.
Researchers believe that chemical shift will pose a major problem for shellfish, corals and other marine life that grow hard shells made of a chalky mineral called calcium carbonate. At lower levels of acidity, it can become harder for shelled species to grow. If ocean water becomes too acidic, it can begin dissolving those shells, sometimes faster than the creatures can rebuild them.
Martin Rees, president of the U.K. Royal Society, said ocean acidification could lead to an "underwater catastrophe" without sharp cuts to the world's CO2 emissions.
"The effects will be seen worldwide, threatening food security, reducing coastal protection and damaging the local economies that may be least able to tolerate it. Copenhagen must address this real and serious threat," Rees said in a statement, referring to international climate talks scheduled to take place in the Danish capital in December.
Click here [pdf] to view the science academies' statement.
Reprinted from Greenwire with permission from Environment & Energy Publishing, LLC. www.eenews.net, 202-628-6500
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6 Comments
Add CommentHow much acidification are we talking? Is the ph moving from 7.2 to 5.0 or 7.19995?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisSpecifics please.
Clicking on the link in the story to the actual statement:
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this"The average pH of oceanic surface waters has been lowered by 0.1 units since the pre-industrial period. This
represents a 30% increase in hydrogen ion activity. Hydrogen ions attack carbonate ions which are the building blocks needed by many marine organisms, such as corals and shellfish, to produce their skeletons, shells and other hard structures. This loss of carbonate ions produce lower saturation levels for the carbonate minerals, aragonite and calcite, which are used in many shells and skeletons. Carbonate ion concentrations are now lower than at any other time during the last 800 000 years."
Shoshin : OK so scientists don't have all the answers. But the answers they do have are confirmed by the majority of qualified world specialists. Climate change is here whether we like it or not, and needs a vigorous response from world leaders. As things stand, Climate Change is costing the World around $125 billion per annum. It will be cheaper to react now rather than when it might well be too late.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisRead the article, Read all of the link, Here we go again.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisProjected disasters await us all based on climate change computer models. Emmmmmmmmmmmmm
Arn't these the same models that have been wrong for the last 8 years, pushed by the same groups of people that were absolutely positive that AGW was destroying the earth.
Coral and shell fish are some of the oldest life on this planet and have existed in peroids of 10 times higher CO2 then the present.
CO2 levels in the oceans and atmosphere are primarly set by temperature as well as chemical activity,PH or hydrogen ion activity, as you should know if you paid any attention in chemistry class.
This is a load of crap covered in a little truth.
The truth is a change in temperature changes the chemical make up of sea water and therefor the mix of types of life in the water.
Human activity has very little to do with the over all energy balance of the planet.
IT IS THE SUN.
eco-steve:
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisA recent study shows that the coral reefs are recovering much quicker than anyone thought. The corals have expelled their lower temperature symbiotic algae and replaced it with an algae that is better suited to the existing conditions.
All without the intervention of the IPCC, Greenpeace, Al Gore, the Sierra Club, WWF, and the burgeoning legion of carbon robber barons.
Weird. Who would have thought that nature adapts to natural changes in living conditions.....Oh yeah, that Darwin guy...
Shoshin,
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisFirst of we're talking about a pH reduction from the current ocean average around 8.1 to potentially 7.9-7.8. While this doesn't sound like much, the pH scale, logarithmic. So a pH difference from 8 to 7 is 10x more acidic and 7 to 6 is 100x more acidic. So while a .2-.3 reduction in pH (keep in mind its though that pH has already reduced from pre industrial times by at least .1) isn't as trivial as one might think.
Now, regarding your last comment, I imagine you're referring to the recent paper by Oliver and Palumbi found here http://www.int-res.com/articles/meps2009.
/378/m378p093.pdf . If not refer me to the paper you speak of.
First of all, there is inadequate evidence in the scientific literature to conclusively say whether corals ability to uptake different clades of zooxanthellae (the algae you wrote about) after a bleaching event is an adaptive means that will actually save them from climate change. Bleaching alone, is a whole other story than the ocean acidification this SCIAM article writes about (though lower pH will stress corals more likely leading to decreased bleaching thresholds).
If the paper I linked is indeed the one you are referring to, take a look at a good analysis by Ove hoegh-goldberg here : http://www.climateshifts.org/?p=1705
pgtruspace,
Here's a decent synopsis of the current science surrounding the chemistry and effects of ocean acidification. I think it would aid you to give it a read.
http://www.int-res.com/articles/theme/m382_ThemeSection.pdf
While it would be nice if ocean acidification had nothing to do with human activities, the relevant published material on the subject says otherwise.