The Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) states that “Warming of the climate system is unequivocal. Most of the observed increase in global average temperatures since the mid-20th century is very likely due to the observed increase in anthropogenic greenhouse gas concentrations.” Carbon dioxide is the most important greenhouse gas; and its global atmospheric concentration has “increased markedly as a result of human activities since 1750, far exceed pre-industrial values determined from ice cores spanning many thousands of years.” More specifically, the IPCC Fourth Assessment Report says, “The global atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide has increased from a pre-industrial value of about 280 ppm to 379 ppm in 2005. The atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide in 2005 exceeds by far the natural range over the last 650,000 years (180 to 300 ppm) as determined from ice cores.”
The increase in greenhouse gas emissions is likely to contribute to further increases in ocean and atmospheric average temperatures and rising sea levels. There are concerns that such increases in greenhouse gas emissions are likely to have a significant impact on the ocean environment, namely, ocean acidification.
Kawano, T., 2010. Trends in ocean acidification research. Science and Technology Trends – Quarterly Review 36: 68-78. Review.
