"Ocean acidification: questions answered" guide launched
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 PML.
In recent years ocean acidification has moved
up the global agenda with many countries now funding national
science programmes to investigate the issue, including the UK’s new
Ocean Acidification Research Programme (UKOARP), 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, senior scientist at PML and
Knowledge Exchange Co-ordinator of the UKOARP, 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.”