UN Sends Dangerous Warnings About Ocean Acidity

GreenTracker| The UN Convention on Biological Diversity released a report on ocean acidification yesterday in Copenhagen.

The oceans’ acidity has increased 30 percent over the last 250 years. But at current carbon-dioxide emission rates from factories, power plants, and other human activities, ocean acidity could increase by 150 percent by 2050, according to the survey of recent research on the subject.

via jimgoldstein at FlickrIf that occurs, writes the Christian Science Monitor, it would represent an increase some 100 times faster than ocean life has experienced in the last 20 million years – a rate that outpaces the ability of shell-building marine life to adapt to the shift through evolution. As the oceans become more acidic, they eat into stores of carbonate minerals dissolved in seawater. Many ocean animals use various forms of these carbonates to build shells, or in the case of corals, to generate the skeletons they live in and that form coral reefs.

There seems to be little debate on the assumptions (and proofs) that the oceans are becoming more acidic. Even if the oceans are actually absorbing more CO2 than scientific models predict (See our Controversial New Climate change Data challenges Basic Premise Around CO2 Absorption, which has gained more traction the last couple weeks) scientists agree on the acidity levels and potentially future projections of a dramatic increase in acidity.

Researchers do not agree on the inevitable result of these compressed changes on ocean biodiversity, although the prevailing view is that the planet is looking at huge challenges with ocean life. Read: At Copenhagen global conference, alarms on ocean acidification. The Christian Science Monitor

More reading:

Fishermen Say Carbon Dioxide Having ‘Really Scary’ Ocean Effect Bloomberg.com

Contrary View: Ocean Acidification by Carbon Dioxide: Wry Heat

Photo: JMG Galleries