Ocean acidification

We depend upon our oceans for life on this planet. Our oceans not only provide food that we eat, but they also regulate the air that we breathe. However, climate change is disrupting the ocean’s ecosystem and its abilities to provide these services.

How can scientists communicate effectively to the public about the effects of climate change in the ocean?

The FrameWorks Institute was at the Woods Hole Ocean Institute in Massachusetts recently to guide science practitioners in this important endeavor.

On the first day of our engagement, we heard a presentation from Dr. Anne Cohen about the latest research on ocean acidification. She explained how carbon dioxide released from the burning of petroleum and coal for energy and transportation is absorbed by the oceans, which acts as a carbon sink. This carbon dioxide combines with water to form carbonic acid. The increase of carbonic acid in the ocean makes it difficult for marine organisms and animals to thrive. This is leading to an ecosystem collapse for marine animals such as plankton, coral, and shellfish – all of whom play an important role in the marine foodchain.
Continue reading ‘FrameWorks helps ocean scientists communicate on climate change’

Increased atmospheric carbon is causing a “Deadly Trio” in the world’s oceans. Alex Rogers is Scientific Director of the International Program on the State of the Ocean. He told host Bruce Gellerman that the trifecta of global warming, ocean acidification, and deoxygenation have been associated with all of the five major extinction events in paleontological history.
Continue reading ‘Ocean extinction trend (audio)’

Amidst the smoke and noise of the debate over green house gases and their role in global climate change, there is another, less-known but just as insidious, effect of increased atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2). As the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere increases, the pH of the ocean is dropping – a phenomenon called “ocean acidification.”

The term “ocean acidification” is somewhat misleading. On the pH scale, seven is neutral, anything below seven is acidic, and anything above is basic. Which means ocean water is slightly basic since historically, the pH of ocean water has fluctuated between 8.1 and 8.3.
Continue reading ‘Ocean acidification – the next big environmental problem?’

If we are to save the seas, we must first reform 17th century ideas of marine exploitation

When you stand on a beach looking out across an ocean, the effect can be to make you feel puny. It is easy to believe that there is little we humans can do to harm, or for that matter protect, the colossal oceans. Our perception of human impotence, of our inability to affect the oceans, is deeply rooted in the way we govern the seas today.

In the 17th century Hugo Grotius developed the doctrine of the “freedom of the seas”, in the face of Portuguese and Spanish claims to sovereignty over vast areas of ocean. He argued that nobody could own the seas, which had been “created by nature for common use”; and was convinced that there were enough fish to go around, that the ocean could deal with what we threw at it and that the bounty was vast enough to share without ownership. The trouble is that then there were perhaps half a billion people – but now there are more than 6 billion of us exploiting what we now know are limited resources.

Continue reading ‘A steward for our oceans’

Seafish has welcomed recommendations from the International Programme on the State of the Ocean (IPSO) to mitigate threats facing the marine environment.

Head of Environment, Philip MacMullen, said there is a strong need for concerted actions to address negative human impacts:

“The highly respected IPSO team identify hypoxia, anoxia, ocean warming and acidification as key stressors of the marine environment. As an industry, we share their concerns because these are the most fundamental threats to the marine food web.

“Seafish and the UK seafood industry support the six actions identified by IPSO to better manage our marine environment. We plead for the political will to drive through good governance of our marine resources.”

The IPSO report contained strong warnings on climate change and ocean acidification.
Continue reading ‘Seafish welcomes IPSO recommendations’

Destructive fishing practices, pollution, biodiversity loss, spreading low-oxygen “dead zones” and ocean acidification are having synergistic effects across the board.

When you stand on a beach looking out across an ocean, the effect can be to make you feel puny. It is easy to believe that there is little we humans can do to harm, or for that matter protect, the colossal oceans. Our perception of human impotence, of our inability to affect the oceans, is deeply rooted in the way we govern the seas today.

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The crux of the problem is that the rate of changes in ocean systems is accelerating and outstripping what was expected just a few years ago. Destructive fishing practices, pollution, biodiversity loss, spreading low-oxygen “dead zones” and ocean acidification are having synergistic effects across the board – from coastal areas to the open ocean, from the tropics to the poles.
Continue reading ‘We need to change course: Ocean life is at risk of unprecedented extinction’