Tech | January 23, 2012 | 25 comments

Oceans have acidified more in the last 200 years than the previous 21,000 years

source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2090253/Oceans-acidified-200-years-did-previo...

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JanforGore
Man-made carbon emissions have acidified the world's oceans far beyond their natural levels, new research suggests.

In some regions, acidity levels rose faster in the last two centuries than it did in the previous 21,000 years, a study from the University of Hawaii has shown. Ocean acidity makes it harder for organisms such as molluscs and coral to construct the protective layers they need to survive.

Measuring changes in ocean acidity is difficult because it varies naturally between seasons, years and regions. Scientists looked at changes in the saturation level of aragonite, a form of calcium carbonate used to measure ocean acidification.

As seawater acidity rises, the saturation level of aragonite falls. Direct observations only date back 30 years, which is not long enough to reveal a meaningful trend. However the new research used simulations of ocean and climate conditions going back 21,000 years to the Last Glacial Maximum and forward in time to the end of the 21st century.

In several key coral reef regions aragonite saturation is already five times below its lowest pre-industrial range, according to the model. This translates to a decrease in overall calcification rates of corals and other shell-forming organisms of 15%, scientists at the university believe.

They fear calcification rates of some marine organisms could drop by more than 40% of their pre-industrial levels within the next 90 years.

Dr Tobias Friedrich, from the University of Hawaii, who led the study published in the journal Nature Climate Change, said: 'Any significant drop below the minimum level of aragonite to which the organisms have been exposed to for thousands of years and have successfully adapted will very likely stress them and their associated ecosystems.

'In some regions, the man-made rate of change in ocean acidity since the industrial revolution is 100 times greater than the natural rate of change between the Last Glacial Maximum and pre-industrial times.'

He added: 'When Earth started to warm 17,000 years ago, terminating the last glacial period, atmospheric CO2 (carbon dioxide) levels rose from 190 parts per million (ppm) to 280 ppm over 6,000 years.

'Marine ecosystems had ample time to adjust. Now, for a similar rise in CO2 concentration to the present level of 392 ppm, the adjustment time is reduced to only 100 - 200 years.'
Co-author Professor Axel Timmermann, also from the University of Hawaii, said: 'Our results suggest that severe reductions are likely to occur in coral reef diversity, structural complexity and resilience by the middle of this century.'


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25 comments // Oceans have acidified more in the last 200 years than the previous 21,000 years

  • circlesquared
  • JanforGore
  • JanforGore
    • +2
      JanforGore  

    • Oh, and SHAME ON THE U.S. MEDIA.

      THIS should be on EVERY front page of EVERY newspaper in this COUNTRY. The people whose responsibility it is to INFORM the public for their own KNOWLEDGE AND SAFETY are ACCOMPLICES in the destruction of the VERY EARTH SYSTEMS that SUSTAIN our LIVES.

    • 4 months ago
  • JanforGore
    • +1
      JanforGore  

    • http://www.hawaiireporter.com/uh-manoa-researchers-find-unprecedented-man-made-t...

      More information on this study with citations.

      I will be counting how many times Obama says "climate change" in his SOTU address tonight. It would behoove those of all politics to understand why. This is an urgent reason WHY. Perhaps this isn't getting to people out here as it should because we now need to use more CAPITAL LETTERS when posting about the URGENCY of this PLANETARY EMERGENCY that is REAL and being exacerbated by OUR behavior? But more IMPORTANTLY< perhaps it is because "LEADERS" who have the ability to USE the aiwaves and their MORAL COURAGE to bring this URGENT message to the masses AREN'T doing it effectively/or AT ALL.

      Granted, it isn't as SEXY as continuitng to talk nonstop about a bunch of BUFFOONS running for president, or a varied selection of other DISTRACTIONS. However, there is no disputing that ANTHROPOGENIC CO2 is rising and it is having a DEFINITE effect on major ECOSYSTEMS of the world that without, HUMANS and other SPECIES will not continue to SURVIVE.

      It is IMPERATIVE that governments of the world ACT NOW along with US taking time to truly UNDERSTAND what we are doing here. The TIPPING POINT is fast approaching, if we haven't reached some ALREADY. How much more damage to this EARTH do we have to wreck on it before we understand what is happening NOW?

    • 4 months ago
  • JanforGore
    • +2
      JanforGore  
    • Image

    • http://iprc.soest.hawaii.edu/users/tobiasf/Outreach/OA/Ocean_Acidification.html

      "Humans have released ~500 billion tons of carbon to the atmosphere. About 30% have been taken up by the oceans. The uptake leads to changes in ocean chemistry resulting in a decrease of seawater pH and carbonate ion concentration, commonly referred to as ocean acidification The availability of carbonate ions is crucial for marine calcifying organisms to form their skeletons or shells that are made of different crystalline forms of calcium carbonate, such as calcite and aragonite. Aragonite is more soluble than calcite and organisms forming aragonite, such as corals and mollusks. Thus, the saturation state of aragonite can be taken as an indicator for ocean acidification. The animation shows how aragonite saturation at the ocean's surface is projected to decrease towards the end of the 21st century as man-made carbon dioxide accumulation in the atmosphere continues to rise. Nowadays, coral reefs are only found in regions where open-ocean aragonite saturation is 3.5 or higher. Currently, this value is reached in about 50% of the world's ocean. Projections indicate that the size of areas providing aragonite saturation levels of 3.5 or higher will shrink to less than 5% until the end of the 21st century. By that time, large parts of the Southern Ocean will experience conditions that may lead to a dissolution of skeletons and shells due to extremely low aragonite saturation (less than 1). Ocean acidification constitutes a serious hazard to global marine ecosystem and marine resources such as fisheries, food supply and tourism.

      This animation was generated as part of a project funded by The Nature Conservancy, the National Science Foundation and JAMSTEC."

    • 4 months ago
  • WNYmathGuy
    • 0
      WNYmathGuy  
    • JanforGore:

      I'm not positive but that animation seems to be correlated to boom and bust periods of economic advancement which may also have a direct relationship with the ton's of energy consumed. Coal => Steam Power => Internal Combustion Engine => Car in every house => Central Air Conditioning proliferation, all accompanied by the manufacturing needed to make those consumers of energy.

    • 4 months ago
  • JanforGore
    • +2
      JanforGore  

    • http://www.nature.com/nclimate/journal/vaop/ncurrent/pdf/nclimate1352.pdf

      Near-future carbon dioxide levels alter fish behaviour by interfering with neurotransmitter function

      Göran E. Nilsson,1 Danielle L. Dixson,2 Paolo Domenici,3 Mark I. McCormick,2 Christina Sørensen,1 Sue-Ann Watson2 & Philip L. Munday2
      AffiliationsContributionsCorresponding author Journal name:
      Nature Climate Change
      Year published:
      (2012)
      DOI:
      doi:10.1038/nclimate1352
      Received18 August 2011 Accepted29 November 2011 Published online15 January 2012 Article toolsPrint
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      Predicted future CO2 levels have been found to alter sensory responses and behaviour of marine fishes. Changes include increased boldness and activity, loss of behavioural lateralization, altered auditory preferences and impaired olfactory function1, 2, 3, 4, 5. Impaired olfactory function makes larval fish attracted to odours they normally avoid, including ones from predators and unfavourable habitats1, 3. These behavioural alterations have significant effects on mortality that may have far-reaching implications for population replenishment, community structure and ecosystem function2, 6. However, the underlying mechanism linking high CO2 to these diverse responses has been unknown. Here we show that abnormal olfactory preferences and loss of behavioural lateralization exhibited by two species of larval coral reef fish exposed to high CO2 can be rapidly and effectively reversed by treatment with an antagonist of the GABA-A receptor. GABA-A is a major neurotransmitter receptor in the vertebrate brain. Thus, our results indicate that high CO2 interferes with neurotransmitter function, a hitherto unrecognized threat to marine populations and ecosystems. Given the ubiquity and conserved function of GABA-A receptors, we predict that rising CO2 levels could cause sensory and behavioural impairment in a wide range of marine species, especially those that tightly control their acid–base balance through regulatory changes in HCO3− and Cl− levels.
      _________
      Untold damages from increased CO2 level that some claim is not in any way harmful.

    • 4 months ago
  • Saladin
    • +1
      Saladin  

    • Hey Jan, notice how that IloveC02 guy isn't in this thread?

      Probably didn't fit into his "Global Warming" filters so there's no money to be made here.

      What better proof do you need that the opposition to this issue is almost entirely shill? What the fuck do denialists have to say about this?

    • 4 months ago
  • JanforGore
  • coolplanet
    • +2
      coolplanet  

    • Whenever I try to talk about this stuff with my friends and family their eyes glaze over (ego) and change the subject asap. I have even been accused of having a 'dark spirit' for bumming people out when I bring it up.
      Have we become so self-absorbed of a species that all we can talk about is politics, sports and shopping?
      This is a cultural problem as well as an environmental one. We have a serious lack of real priorities!

    • 4 months ago
  • JanforGore
    • +3
      JanforGore  
    • coolplanet:

      Considering the majority of our planet is oceans I would say this is a huge issue. Pollution, plastic, radiation, overfishing, acidification, sea level rise...I suppose some are just too self absorbed to think it even makes a difference. If they only knew how wrong they are. I think that revelation is coming soon.

    • 4 months ago
  • artemis6
    • +2
      artemis6  

    • I have been following this for some years , except lately . It is too depressing . If people REALLY understood the science ... but of course they CHOOSE NOT to . It is criminal , this willful ignorance . We will all suffer for it .

    • 4 months ago
  • JanforGore
    • +2
      JanforGore  
    • artemis6:

      I agree. That's why the video posted here is so good. It spells out how this all works, what it is and how it is affecting and will affect us up the food chain. And this is only one part of the destruction we humans are wrecking on our oceans. I truly don't know where we will go at this point. On the whole it just continues to get worse instead of better.

    • 4 months ago
  • PressCore
    • +1
      PressCore  
    • artemis6:

      You bet we will. I relish eating seafood. I can't even immagine a future life
      without eating herring, or a fish fry, jumbo prawns, King crab, or Lobsters.
      I'd rather eat that clean, good oily food rather than most land animal flesh
      any day of the week. It saddens me to think that human greed, ignorance
      and lack of resolute long range planning will ruin a good thing that humans
      have enjoyed for many thousands of years.

    • 4 months ago
  • artemis6
    • 0
      artemis6  
    • JanforGore:

      It is so frustrating , i do not know how you endure it , Glaciers vanishing , mass coral die offs from acidification , it is RIGHT THERE , IN our FACES . Kind of like the planet being round ... People need to get out more . It is not that complex .

    • 4 months ago
  • artemis6
  • JanforGore
    • +1
      JanforGore  
    • artemis6:

      I have to do this every day. It is like breathing to me. I like so many others love this Earth and appreciate all she gives us. And it's not that complex to see our part in the destruction taking place and I think that is why so many remain silent. Once you admit your part in it, morally you are bound to address it. Making it complex makes it look impossible to address. People who play ignorant think they can use that as a reason to not do anything about it.

    • 4 months ago
  • JanforGore
    • +6
      JanforGore  

    • A very informative comprehensive talk on ocean acidification and its implications for life on Earth. For those truly interested in this topic...and our future on this planet.

    • 4 months ago
  • Vierotchka
  • WakeUpPeople
  • Vierotchka
  • JanforGore
  • EthicalVegan
  • JanforGore
  • JanforGore
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