a news stream provided by the Ocean Acidification International Coordination Center (OA-ICC)
The negative impacts of man-made CO2 emissions on the environment are already well researched and documented. But the damaging effects of the increasing amounts of carbon dioxide that are ending up in our seas and oceans are less well known.
Marine scientists at the IAEA’s Environment Laboratories in Monaco are using a range of nuclear and isotopic techniques to study a process known as “Ocean Acidification”.
IAEA, 18 September 2013. Resource.
Resource type: film
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The 8th of January (08.01) was chosen to be the Ocean Acidification Day of Action because 8.1 is the current pH of the ocean.
Global ocean acidification is a clear illustration of one of the profound effects of sustained climate change. This phenomenon is changing the chemistry of our oceans and affecting the health of many marine animals, some of which people rely on for their livelihood and for food. The International Atomic Energy Agency’s Ocean Acidification International Coordination Centre (OA-ICC) is using nuclear and nuclear-derived technologies to better understand and address this important issue.
According to Peter Swarzenski from the IAEA in Monaco: “With our international partners, this project plays a key role bringing together global leaders in ocean acidification science and policy. Together, we enable Member States to positively engage in ocean change issues as part of the UN Ocean Decade and the Sustainable Development Goals.”
IAEA, YouTube, 8 January 2021. Resource.
Resource type: film
Resource format: video
Testing the Waters: Acidification in the Mediterranean is the summit of the MedSeA Project’s dissemination efforts to reach the widest audience possible, in order to raise awareness on the constant dangers stemming from ocean acidification and warming. Aquaculture, the tourism and leisure industries, and the whole economy of a large share of Europe’s coastline and population are threatened by these stresses. Spreading as much information as possible, while engaging policy-makers to address this issue and start devising solutions, is one of the key objectives of the MedSeA Project.
The European Mediterranean Sea Acidification in a changing climate (MedSeA) initiative was a project funded by the European Commission under Framework Program 7 (2011-2014). It involved 22 institutions (including 6 associated partners) from 12 countries.
MedSeA assesses uncertainties, risks and thresholds related to Mediterranean acidification at organismal, ecosystem and economical scales. It also emphasizes conveying the acquired scientific knowledge to a wider audience of reference users, while suggesting policy measures for adaptation and mitigation that will vary from one region to another.
Mediterranean Sea Acidification (MedSeA), 6 August 2014. Resource.
Resource type: film
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Scientific evidence must be delivered in an understandable way to policymakers and other key stakeholders in Mediterranean countries and elsewhere. In the MedSeA project we are developing a Reference User Group (RUG) of key stakeholders from the Mediterranean countries (MRUG).
The MRUG objectives are to:
Mediterranean Sea Acidification (MedSeA). Resource.
Resource type: website
Resource format: webpage
This is a Issue Brief on ocean acidification released by IUCN on November 2017.
IUCN is a membership Union composed of both government and civil society organisations. It harnesses the experience, resources and reach of its more than 1,400 Member organisations and the input of more than 17,000 experts. This diversity and vast expertise makes IUCN the global authority on the status of the natural world and the measures needed to safeguard it.
International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), 1 November 2017. Resource.
Resource type: website
Resource format: document/pdf
The IOC-UNESCO Ocean Literacy for All A toolkit is the result of a joint work and contributions of members of this global partnership. It provides to educators and learners worldwide the innovative tools, methods, and resources to understand the complex ocean processes and functions and, as well, to alert them on the most urgent ocean issues. It also presents the essential scientific principles and information needed to understand the cause-effect relationship between individual and collective behavior and the impacts that threaten the ocean health.
IOC-UNESCO, 2018. Resource.
Resource type: website
Resource format: document/pdf
The Ocean Literacy Portal serves as a one-stop shop, providing resources and content available to all, with the goal of creating an ocean-literate society able to make informed and responsible decisions on ocean resources and ocean sustainability. Here you will find the necessary Ocean Literacy resources to develop knowledge, skills, values and behaviours needed to create an ocean literate community. A collection of education and information resources, projects, tools, methods, reports, programs and materials regarding global ocean knowledge, useful to understand ocean processes, functions and issues.
IOC-UNESCO. Resource.
Resource type: website
Resource format: webpage
There is no “quick fix” for ocean acidification; knowledge of the effects of people’s carbon footprint is essential to help minimize the ongoing problem. In this unit, we’ll look at the remoteness of the Antarctic region and how it highlights how the effects of ocean acidification felt all around the world, including in unpopulated areas.
SAILDRONE, 1 March 2019. Resource.
Resource type: website
Resource format: online course
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution is the world’s leading, independent non-profit organization dedicated to ocean research, exploration, and education. Our scientists and engineers push the boundaries of knowledge about the ocean to reveal its impacts on our planet and our lives.
Here you will find information about topics on ocean chemistry, including ocean acidification, biogeochemistry and carbon cycle.
Resource type: website
Resource format: webpage
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. Resource.
Education and outreach are vital to improving the public’s awareness and understanding of ocean acidification. This includes not only increasing the general awareness that ocean acidification is happening now, but also understanding the current scientific knowledge and impacts of our ocean’s changing chemistry.
NOAA Ocean Acidification Program (OAP). Resource.
Resource type: website
Resource format: webpage
We, as humans, are deeply connected to our ocean whether we realize it our not. Our ocean regulates climate like the heart regulates blood flow in our bodies. Humidity, rain, and temperature are all controlled by our ocean. Burning fossil fuels adds excess heat and carbon dioxide that disrupt this system and make it harder to maintain a stable climate.
OCEAN ACIDIFICATION: Our ocean absorbs excess CO2 when we burn fossil fuels to power cars and create electricity. This excess CO2 increases acidity in our ocean on a global scale.
COASTAL ACIDIFICATION: Nutrients entering the water from land exacerbates acidification in near shore waters.
NOAA Ocean Acidification Program (OAP). Resource.
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Educators, students, and curious people everywhere — come explore the ocean and atmosphere.
The NOAA Education Portal is your one-stop shop to connect with learning and teaching resources about the ocean and atmosphere. Discover curricula, lesson plans, and real-time data to bring NOAA science into your classroom. Explore opportunities for educators and students of all levels. Apply for competitive funding for education projects.
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Resource.
Resource type: website
Resource format: webpage
The mission of the NOAA Ocean Acidification Program (OAP) is to better prepare society to respond to changing ocean conditions and resources by expanding understanding of ocean acidification, through interdisciplinary partnerships, nationally and internationally. The content on this channel includes various seminars the NOAA Ocean Acidification Program has hosted to increase understanding of ocean acidification and tools that are available to scientists, educators, and communicators
NOAA Ocean Acidification Program (OAP). Resource.
Resource type: film
Resource format: video
A healthy ocean is essential to all life on Earth. The ocean is not limitless, and today, marine species and ecosystems are facing unprecedented threats due to human use and destructive practices.
Scientific studies have confirmed that well-regulated, well-enforced marine protected areas (MPAs) can provide significant ecological benefits, increase resilience to natural and anthropogenic disturbances, and allow for ecosystem recovery. For example, fully- and highly-protected MPAs can allow depleted fish populations to recover, serve as refuges for endangered species, and increase resilience to climate change.
At the Marine Conservation Institute, we utilise the best available science to identify important marine ecosystems and advocate for their protection. We advocate for the creation of MPAs, strong and effective regulations, and preserving representative and special areas in the world’s oceans. We have been doing this work since the onset of our organization and will continue to do so as we strive toward 30% of the ocean protected by 2030.
Marine Conservation Institute (MCBI). Resource.
Resource type: website
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With support from the Seventh Framework Programme of the European Union, the CarboSchools project developed eight experiments for students. The experiments help young people to understand the basics of ocean acidification. In the first half, all eight experiments are explained in great detail. Teachers will find information on the preparation and running of the experiments as well as answers to any questions.
BIOACID, 1 September 2012. Resource.
Resource type: guides/manuals
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A selection of brochures related to ocean acidification:
Biological Impacts of Ocean Acidification (BIOACID). Resource.
Resource type: website
Resource format: webpage
From the Arctic to the tropics, ocean acidification changes life in the sea. By absorbing carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere, the ocean slows down global climate change. But in seawater, the greenhouse gas causes a chemical reaction with far-reaching consequences: carbonic acid is formed, and the pH drops. Many plants and animals that build their shells or skeletons of calcium carbonate are at serious risk, because they need more energy to maintain growth in more acidic water. Also the development of important food fish can be affected. Organisms that convert carbon dioxide into energy by photosynthesis, however, could benefit. In addition, certain species are able to adapt to new conditions in the long run. The roles in the marine food web are redefined, while other factors such as rising temperatures, loss of oxygen, eutrophication, pollution or overfishing additionally might further influence the effects of ocean acidification.
The German research network BIOACID examines the effects of acidification on the life and biogeochemical cycles in the ocean – and on all those who depend on it.
The Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) supports the project that is coordinated by GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel.
Biological Impacts of Ocean Acidification (BIOACID), 1 November 2016. Resource.
Resource type: film
Resource format: video
Scientists refer to ocean acidification as the other carbon problem. The first, of course, is global warming.
People have heard about global warming for decades, but it’s only over the past five years that experts really understood that the carbon dioxide is causing a problem for the oceans as well.
When we burn coal, oil, and gas, we introduce carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, but the atmosphere touches the ocean over 70 percent of Earth’s surface, so this carbon dioxide we’re putting into the atmosphere we are also putting into the ocean.
What happens when so much carbon dioxide, 22 millions tons of it each day, mixes with ocean water? In terms of chemistry, the answer is simple: it becomes an acid.
Since the industrial revolution, the ocean acidity has increased by 30. If we continue to pollute as we are right now, the ocean acidity will double by the end of the century compared to pre-industrial times. That’s a big problem.
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National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Resource.
Resource type: film
Resource format: video
This publication from the Australian Academy of Science aims to address confusion created by contradictory information in the public domain. It sets out to explain the current situation* in climate science, including where there is consensus in the scientific community and where uncertainties exist.
‘The science of climate change: questions and answers’ were prepared by a working group of nine members co-chaired by Dr Ian Allison FAA and Professor Mike Raupach FAA FTSE. The document was also reviewed by an oversight committee of eight members chaired by Professor John Zillman AO FAA FTSE. This publication is an update of the Academy’s 2010 booklet of the same name.
Australian Academy of Science, 1 February 2015. Resource.
Resource type: website
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Why are the oceans becoming more acidic and how does that threaten biodiversity? Human activities produce excessive carbon dioxide and much of it is absorbed by the oceans, where it is converted to an acid.
Australian Academy of Science, 30 June 2014. Resource.
Resource type: film
Resource format: video
