'Acidifying oceans' threaten food supply, UK warns
source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8411135.stm
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- jefftego
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The UK environment secretary said that acidification provided a "powerful incentive" to cut carbon emissions.
Ocean chemistry is changing because water absorbs extra CO2 from the air.
Some believe this impact of rising CO2 levels could be as significant as climatic change, though it is rarely discussed at the UN climate convention.
The science has come to prominence only within the last five or six years, and most of the details were not available when the convention was signed in 1992.
"We know that the increasing concentration of CO2 [in the air] is making the oceans more acidic," Mr Benn told BBC News.
"It affects marine life, it affects coral, and that in turn could affect the amount of fish in the sea - and a billion people in the world depend on fish for their principal source of protein.
"It doesn't get as much attention as the other problems; it is really important."
In September, the UN-backed study into The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity (Teeb) concluded that the widely-endorsed target of trying to stabilise atmospheric concentrations of CO2 or their equivalent to around 450 parts per million (ppm) would prove lethal to much of the world's coral.
Mr Benn made his speech during the summit's "oceans day" at a meeting organised by Stanford University and Scripps Institution of Oceanography, both based in California.
"Unlike global warming, which can manifest itself in nuanced, complex ways, the science of ocean acidification is unambiguous," said Andrew Dickson, a Scripps professor of marine chemistry.
"The chemical reactions that take place as increasing amounts of carbon dioxide are introduced to seawater have been established for nearly a century."
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- groups:
- Community, Green, Oceans, Climate Change
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- tags:
- Climate Change, CO2, ocean acidification
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Saladin
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No need to worry because apparently a few hacked e-mails debunked this whole thing! Ho ho ho!
In all seriousness, where is the four-day spin-a-thon from the MSM on this? Not as interesting as hyping up some e-mails I guess huh? And people say that there is a media conspiracy to promote the "climate change agenda." What a crock of shit, they don't report all the basic evidence like this.
- 2 years ago
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Saladin
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Robotic091
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Its such a hard subject to talk about because of just the massive size of the oceans. We know more about space than the deepest parts of our oceans. I greatly agree that somthing needs to be done but the science community as well as policy makers reseach methods that can reduce ocean CO2 without hurting the biodiversity of the oceans. Trying to fix the ocean can have far reaching implications that we can't predict. its like probability classes in high school we can only make guesses of what can happen.
- 2 years ago
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Robotic091
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tommic
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Its as I have claimed, the first impact on Global Climate Change will be shortages of fresh potable water and food shortages. If we destroy the food chain starting in the oceans we humans are totally screwed. It will manifest itself and become self perpetuating with the land based animals that depend on marine life for their existence dying off then subsequently those animals that feed on them and on and on down the line. There have been four mass extinctions in Earths history now the fifth is under way. Oh I forgot there's no such thing as climate change its all just natural. ASSHOLES
- 2 years ago
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tommic
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artemis6
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tommic:
I agree . The nitrogen that feeds the soil so food can grow comes from the sea . Salmon built the great forests of the northwest . If the sea dies , we die .
- 2 years ago
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artemis6
