Fishermen say carbon dioxide having ‘really scary’ ocean effect

Jeremy Brown, a fisherman from the Pacific Northwest, is pulling things from the ocean he says are so disturbing that he came to Washington to warn U.S. lawmakers about it.

“This is not overfishing, this is something far larger,” said Brown, one of 10 people who met with lawmakers and legislative aides this week on behalf of the Sustainable Fisheries Partnership, a San Francisco-based group that advises seafood producers on fishing practices.

The group said the ocean is becoming more acidic because of carbon-dioxide emissions that are damaging coral reefs, decimating populations of tiny animals at the base of the food chain and eating away at the shells of clams, mussels and oysters.

Chinese climate proposal places burden on developed world – Summary

Copenhagen – China countered a Danish working paper presented at the UN climate change conference on Thursday, proposing that only industrial countries be forced to set specific targets on greenhouse gases. According to the French daily Le Monde, India, Brazil, South Africa and Sudan also worked on the text to the proposal, which however did not mention any concrete numbers.

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The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) presented a report at the climate summit warning of a souring of the oceans.

The Switzerland-based environmental group said in a report released Thursday that increased release of CO2 in the atmosphere was making seawater more acidic and was threatening ecosystems and aquatic life essential for human food and economies.

“Ocean acidification can be best described as the evil twin of climate change,” said Dan Laffoley, lead editor of the report.

Un appel à l’action contre l’acidification de l’océan (EPOCA) (in french)

Une réduction importante et immédiate des émissions de dioxyde de carbone (CO2) est nécessaire pour limiter significativement l’acidification des océans et empêcher l’extinction d’espèces marines, des risques sur la sécurité alimentaire et des conséquences socio-économiques significatives. Voilà ce qu’énoncent de nombreux experts, dont les membres du projet européen EPOCA, dans un guide intitulé “L’acidification de l’océan – Les faits” qui vient d’être publié dans le cadre de la conférence des Nations Unies sur le climat à Copenhague.

Acid Oceans – warning to Copenhagen negotiators

A scientific summary on ocean acidification, written by a team of researchers from France, Germany, the UK, the USA, and Australia, and coordinated by the European Project on Ocean Acidification (EPOCA), was released today in Copenhagen.

The guide aims to increase understanding of the science of ocean acidification and shows in clear and simple terms how the ocean is being made more acidic by human-produced carbon dioxide emissions. The guide, written for policymakers worldwide, illustrates the double impact of climate change and ocean acidification on our seas, both caused by increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide. It sets out the basic facts about the progressive acidification of the ocean and its impact on marine ecosystems.

Butterfield: The trouble with geniuses

T he trouble with geniuses is they missed some high school lessons. My father was nicknamed Honest John of Philadelphia, either in respect or derision, due to his gawky, ramrod earnestness which he unleashed in all sorts of circumstances, while being (reputedly) the finest, meanest, most erudite and exacting legal mind in the city. A cult-like group fawned over his gifts (and foibles) throughout his life, but in the end my father’s genius did not outshine his disruptive personal flaws which delivered gnawing disappointments to himself and others.

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We have that frame when it comes to climate. It is ocean acidification, enacted through this formula:

Carbon dioxide plus water yields carbonic acid.

Increasingly acidic ocean threatens fish

Alaska’s rich fisheries are the mainstay of our coastal communities, providing for livelihoods we love and a way of life most Americans cannot even imagine. In Alaska, we pride ourselves on science-based fisheries management. So when scientists go out of their way to alert us to the dangers of ocean acidification, we need to really listen. And our elected officials need to act.

Last year 150 scientists from 26 nations posted a consensus statement called the Monaco Declaration stating they are “deeply concerned by recent, rapid changes in ocean chemistry and their potential within decades to severely affect marine organisms, food webs, biodiversity and fisheries.”

Scientist: extinction threatens coral reefs unless CO2 limited to 350ppm

Extinction of Coral reefs and 10-20% of marine species is likely if greehouse gases aren’t brought down to 350ppm, warned Professor Ove Hoegh-Guldberg from the University of Queensland. He gave a presentation at the US Pavilion at the COP15 climate negotiations in Copenhagen about the threat of climate change to the world’s coral reefs. Over 500 million people living in approximately 90 nations are dependant in some way on coral reefs.

Professor Ove Hoegh-Guldberg was a contributing author to the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report in 2007, which shared the Nobel Prize with Al Gore.

“Carbon and coral reef ecosystems are not sustainable at temperatures that increase up to 2 degrees above the pre-industrial or concentrations of CO2 above 450ppm.”

“Eliminating these habitats will inevitably lead to about 10 to 20% of marine biodiversity going extinct. Thats all those organisms that are highly dependant on coral reefs. And losing coral reefs will have enormous issues for 500 million people living in approximately 90 nations.”

Ocean acidification: an underwater time-bomb

Alarming progression of ocean acidity posing major threat to marine ecosystems.

Ocean acidity has increased by 30 per cent since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution and the rate of acidification will accelerate in the coming decades, according to a new guide launched at the UN Copenhagen Climate Change summit today (10 Dec 09). The results could spell disaster for critical parts of the marine food chain, with knock-on consequences for fishing communities and the global fishing industry, and wide-scale destruction of marine reefs.

Sponsored by Natural England, the European Project on Ocean Acidification’s (EPOCA) guide called ‘Ocean Acidification: The Facts’ highlights the severity of an underwater time-bomb that could have massive implications for marine wildlife and the health of the marine environment.

Stop our oceans souring

Copenhagen, Denmark, 10 December 2009 (IUCN) – Deep and immediate cuts in emissions are needed to stall ocean acidification and prevent mass extinction of marine species, food insecurity and serious damage to the world economy, according to IUCN.

Released today at UNFCCC COP 15 in Copenhagen, ‘Ocean acidification – the facts’ takes stock of the latest science on oceans acidification and spells out the steps that are urgently needed to stop its acceleration.

Increased release of CO₂ in the atmosphere is making seawater more acidic and is threatening ecosystems and species precious for our food and economy. It is also reducing the ocean’s ability to absorb CO₂ and regulate climate. Previous episodes of ocean acidification were linked to mass extinctions of some species, and it is reasonable to assume that this episode could have the same consequences. There can be little doubt that the ocean is undergoing dramatic changes that will impact many human lives now and in coming generations, unless we act quickly and decisively.

Ocean Acidification – the facts

A special introductory guide for policy advisers and decision makers

Release date: 10th December 2009

Copenhagen, December 2009, is when the world will wait to see how we will meet the greatest challenge of our generation – climate change. Today, the Reference User Group of EPOCA, the European Project on Ocean Acidification, releases a ground-breaking new guide to ocean acidification – how the ocean is becoming progressively more acidic due to the carbon dioxide we emit.