Are jellyfish increasing in response to ocean acidification?

Ocean acidification may negatively affect calcifying plankton, opening ecological space for noncalcifying species. Recently, a study of climate-forcing of jellyfish reported the first analysis suggesting that there were more jellyfish (generally considered a noncalcifying group) when conditions were more acidic (lower pH) from one area within the North Sea. We examine this suggestion for a number of areas in the North Sea and beyond in the Northeast Atlantic using coelenterate records from the Continuous Plankton Recorder and pH data from the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea for the period 1946–2003. We could find no significant relationships between jellyfish abundance and acidic conditions in any of the regions investigated. We conclude that the role of pH in structuring zooplankton communities in the North Sea and further afield at present is tenuous.

Coral reefs in dire straits, experts say

‘Harm from greenhouse gas ‘happening much faster than we realized’

By absorbing increasing amounts of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide, the oceans are becoming increasingly acidic, weakening the world’s coral reefs and threatening to unsettle the balance of entire ecosystems, experts say.

Marine team sounds alarm for reefs

Fourteen scientists warn of the necessity of reducing carbon dioxide to save coral

Recommendations to prevent what one scientist calls “osteoporosis of the reef” have been presented to the U.S. Coral Reef Task Force, holding its final meeting of the International Year of the Reef in Kona.

Fourteen leading climate and marine scientists and coral reef managers from the U.S. and Australia developed the “Honolulu Declaration on Ocean Acidification and Reef Management” during a workshop convened here by the Nature Conservancy two weeks ago.