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Marine invertebrates, acid oceans can't be forgotten in Copenhagen
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Coral reefs may dissappear due to carbon dioxide.
Climate change authorities and researchers around the globe are gearing up for the the United Nations Climate Change Conference to be held December 2009 in Copenhagen, Denmark.
As a precursor though, UN talks in Bonn, Germany have begun this month as treaty draft negotiators meet to discuss environmental issues. One appeal came from the Interacedemy Panel (IAP), a conglomerate of 70 different scientific academies, which issued a statement asking delegates to make ocean acidification a main topic of debate.
When carbon dioxide from the air is dissolved into the ocean, it reacts with sea water to form carbonic acid. This acid releases hydrogen ions that consume the calcium carbonate used by marine mollusks and corals to make their shells and skeletons. The ions not only dissolve exhisiting structures made by these creatures but keep them from producing new ones.
These tiny animals make up the platform of ocean ecosystems, providing habitat and food for thousands of other ocean organisms, including plants, fish, reptiles, and mammals. The loss of this platform has serious implications for human food production also. A 2007 NOAA report estimated the US alone consumed 5 billion tons of seafood that year, with an average of 16 pounds per person per year since 2003, and the US is one of the smallest consumers of seafood in the world.
The report by the IAP measured an average decrease of seawater pH by .1 units. It seems small, but that has resulted in 30% more hydrogen ion activity since pre-industry. The report also said concentrations of carbonate ions available to marine creatures are lower that they have been in 800,000 years.
The IAP issued this statement to make world leaders acknowledge ocean acidification is a direct consequence of carbon dioxide emissions. The IAP also calls for a 50% reduction in emissions by 2050, or substantial damage to the ocean will occur.
The talks in Copenhagen stand to make leaps and bounds for world-wide climate change policy. The nations of the world need solutions, and ocean acidification needs to be brought to the foreground of this process.
www.nationalacademies.org/morenews/20090601.html
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