Question answered on ocean acidification
4th November 2010
Ocean acidification, the lowering of the
ocean’s pH as a result of manmade CO₂ emissions, could have
profound impacts on marine life and the valuable services it
provides humankind. Latest evidence shows that seawater chemistry
is already changing and only a large and rapid reduction of fossil
fuel use and deforestation can help restore ocean’s health.
This week in Monaco, a new guide,
“Ocean Acidification: Questions
Answered”, has been launched and provides the latest science on
the speed and scale of the impact that CO₂ emissions will have on
the ocean and humanity.
The document states that ocean acidification
is happening ten times faster than the rate which preceded the
extinction of many marine species approximately 55 million years
ago. If the current rate of acidification continues, fragile marine
ecosystems could be seriously damaged by 2050.
“Ocean Acidification: Questions
Answered”, launched by HSH Prince Albert II of Monaco, was
compiled by the pioneering Ocean Acidification Reference User Group
(OARUG) and draws on the expertise of over 30 of the world’s
leading marine scientists, including a team from the UK’s Ocean
Acidification Research Programme.
In recent years ocean acidification has moved
up the global agenda with many countries now funding national
science programmes to investigate the issue; alongside the UK’s new
Ocean Acidification
Research Programme (UKOARP), programmes include the European
Project on OCean Acidification (EPOCA), Germany’s BioACID and the
Mediterranean’s MedSea. These programmes not only help direct the
science being undertaken around the world but also, under the
umbrella of OARUG, they work together to tackle and prepare for
this globally significant challenge.
Dr Carol Turley, Knowledge Exchange
Co-ordinator of the UKOARP and senior scientists at Plymouth Marine
Laboratory, commented: “Such a monumental alteration in basic ocean
chemistry could have wide implications for ocean life, especially
for those organisms that require calcium carbonate to build shells
or skeletons. Ocean acidification is happening everywhere but in
some parts of the world the effects will be more rapid and
severe.”
“It is vital that ocean acidification research
is communicated to as wide an audience as possible as this issue
will impact upon all of us,” Dr Turley continued.
Dan Laffoley, Vice Chair of Marine for
International Union for Conservation of Nature, Marine Principal
Specialist at Natural England and member of PML’s Science Advisory
Council, remarked: “Climate change may be all over the headlines,
but it has an evil twin, caused by the same invisible gas carbon
dioxide, with more measurable, rapid and seemingly unstoppable
effects. By answering the main questions people have about ocean
acidification, we intend to break through the ignorance and
confusion that exist, so everyone is clearer on what is happening
and why this is a matter of the highest global priority.”