Ocean Acidification

As if ocean acidification and climate change weren’t troubling enough (both of which are caused by still-rising carbon emissions), new research published in Nature finds that ocean acidification will eventually exacerbate global warming, further raising the Earth’s temperature.

Scientists have long known that tiny marine organisms—phytoplankton—are central to cooling the world by emitting an organic compound known as dimethylsulphide (DMS). DMS, which contains sulfur, enters the atmosphere and helps seed clouds, leading to a global cooling effect. In fact, in the past scientists have believed that climate change may actually increase DMS emissions, and offset some global warming, but they did not take into account the impact of acidification.

Researchers, headed by Katharina Six with the Max Planck Institute for Meteorology, tested how acidification affects phytoplankton in the laboratory by lowering the pH (i.e. acidifying) in plankton-filled water tanks and measuring DMS emissions. When they set the ocean acidification levels for what is expected by 2100 (under a moderate greenhouse gas scenario) they found that cooling DMS emissions fell.

Continue reading ‘Bad feedback: ocean acidification to worsen global warming’

Ocean acidification driven by increasing atmospheric carbon levels is a substantial threat to marine life, a new study has confirmed.

The study, published in the journal Nature Climate Change, analyzed 167 studies on the effects of ocean acidification on corals, crustaceans, mollusks, fishes and echinoderms, a group which includes starfish and sea urchins. The studies included data on effects of ocean acidification on more than 150 species of marine life, which the researchers then matched up to different climate scenarios to get a sense of how each species would respond to different levels of ocean acidification.

They found that at atmospheric carbon concentrations of 500 to 650 parts per million — levels that are predicted by 2100 — corals, echinoderms, mollusks and fish were negatively impacted, though crustaceans such as crabs and lobsters were relatively unaffected. When atmospheric carbon concentrations rose above 650 ppm, all groups studied were harmed.

Continue reading ‘The ocean is going to start confusing fish and dissolving seashells’

What goes around comes around. Our greenhouse gas emissions don’t just warm the planet, they also acidify the oceans. Now it turns out that the change in ocean chemistry they cause will feed back into the climate, further driving up temperatures.

Ocean acidification poses a threat to many marine organisms such as corals – the shells of some marine snails are already dissolving. Until now it seemed like this was strictly a problem for marine organisms and the people who depend on them: ‘climate scientists consider the carbon dioxide that is absorbed by the ocean to be stored and unable to affect the climate.

Continue reading ‘Acidifying oceans will heat the planet more’

Oceans that grow more acidic through increased carbon emissions, amplify global warming by releasing less of a gas that helps shield Earth from solar radiation, a new study reveals.

And the authors of the paper, which appears today in the journal Nature Climate Change, warn the potentially vast effect they uncovered is not currently factored into climate change projections.

Katharina Six of the Max Planck Institute for Meteorology, and colleagues, say human-induced carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions contribute to planetary warming by letting the Sun’s heat through the atmosphere but trapping heat energy reflected back from Earth, so creating a greenhouse effect.

Continue reading ‘Ocean acidification increases warming (text and audio)’

Washington, August 26 (ANI): Biologists have claimed that acidification of our oceans could change the ecosystems of our seas even by the end of this century.

In a new study, biologists at the Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research (AWI), compiled and analysed all available data on the reaction of marine animals to ocean acidification.

The scientists found that whilst the majority of animal species investigated are affected by ocean acidification, the respective impacts are very specific.

Continue reading ‘Acidification of ocean’s adversely impacting sea animals’ health’

Two scientific studies released today highlight the dangers of rising acid levels in the world’s oceans.

Oceans play a vital role in climate change by absorbing carbon dioxide (CO2) and helping to reduce global warming, but CO2 makes ocean water more acidic.

Now a study published in the journal Nature Climate Change shows acidification will drive substantial changes in ocean ecosystems this century.

The authors assessed a range of marine animals including corals, starfish, molluscs, crustaceans and fish.

Continue reading ‘Studies highlight dangers of rising acidity in oceans (text and audio)’

As the ocean continues to grow more acidic, many marine animals will face negative consequences, though to varying degrees due to differences in bodily functions, according to a new study published in the journal Nature Climate Change.

The world’s oceans are responsible for absorbing more than a quarter of the carbon dioxide emitted through human activity, thus acting as a stabilizing force for the Earth’s global temperatures. However, such storage is not limitless nor without its consequences.

Continue reading ‘Ocean acidification poses threat to wide range of animal life, study shows’

As we emit more carbon dioxide, the oceans will become more acidic. That will be bad for sealife—but it may also speed the rate of global warming

Given that they cover 70% of the Earth’s surface—and provide about 90% of the planet’s habitable space by volume—the oceans tend to get short shrift when it comes to climate change. The leaked draft of the forthcoming coming new report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change highlighted the atmospheric warming we’re likely to see, the rate of ice loss in the Arctic and the unprecedented (at least within the last 22,000 years) rate of increase of concentrations of greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide and methane. But when it came to the oceans, press reports only focused on how warming would cause sea levels to rise, severely inconveniencing those of us who live on land.

Continue reading ‘Ocean acidification will make climate change worse’

When atmospheric carbon dioxide dissolves into the ocean, it forms carbonic acid, which in turn lowers the water’s pH levels and causes oceanic acidification. The phenomenon is expected to occur at increasing rates as carbon dioxide emissions around the world continue to rise.

In a report published in Nature Climate Change, two researchers from the Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz-Centre for Polar and Marine Research (AWI) in Bremerhaven, Germany performed an extensive research review that indicated the impacts of a more acidic ocean will vary from one species to the next.

Continue reading ‘Not all species equally affected by more acidic oceans’

Ocean acidification — the term for how carbon emissions, which affect our air and atmosphere, are making the oceans more acidic — may drive substantial change in aquatic ecosystems during the 21st century, authors of a recently published paper have found. Ultimately, the long-term survival ability of certain species may be compromised, and this could impact the food resources found within the ocean.

Continue reading ‘Ocean acidification may substantially change aquatic ecosystems and even impact how we eat’

In 100 years we may be looking at a much different ocean species-wise.

A new study worked to predict the impact of ocean acidification on various species, and found they responded in their own specific ways, an Alfred Wegener Institute press release reported.

The study team analyzed previously collected data on the impact of ocean acidification regarding: “corals, crustaceans, mollusks, vertebrates such as fishes and echinoderms (animals such as starfish and sea urchins).”

Continue reading ‘Ocean acidification bad news for future fish, worse for coral; what will the ocean look like in 2100?’