Ocean Acidification: The Other CO2 Problem

Rising atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2), primarily from human fossil fuel combustion, reduces ocean pH and causes wholesale shifts in seawater carbonate chemistry. The process of ocean acidification is well documented in field data, and the rate will accelerate over this century unless future CO2 emissions are curbed dramatically. Acidification alters seawater chemical speciation and biogeochemical cycles of many elements and compounds. One well-known effect is the lowering of calcium carbonate saturation states, which impacts shell-forming marine organisms from plankton to benthic molluscs, echinoderms, and corals. Many calcifying species exhibit reduced calcification and growth rates in laboratory experiments under high-CO2 conditions. Ocean acidification also causes an increase in carbon fixation rates in some photosynthetic organisms (both calcifying and noncalcifying). The potential for marine organisms to adapt to increasing CO2 and broader implications for ocean ecosystems are not well known; both are high priorities for future research. Although ocean pH has varied in the geological past, paleo-events may be only imperfect analogs to current conditions.

Movie on “Recent research on the response of phytoplankton to elevated CO2″

The talk on “Recent research on the response of phytoplankton to elevated CO2″ given by Debora Iglesias-Rodriguez (National Oceanography Centre, Southampton) at the Ocean Carbon and Biogeochemistry Workshop 2008 (held in Woods Hole in July 2008) is available on the OCB web site.

Quicktime movie

Obama answers science questions posed to presidential candidates

Obama recently responded to 14 questions posed to him and Republican presidential candidate John McCain by the grassroots group Science Debate 2008, which says it hopes to make key science issues a larger part of the election.

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In response to the 14 questions, Obama said he also would:

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• Expand research programs on the effect of climate change on oceans and the effect of acidification on marine life that are conducted at NASA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the National Science Foundation and the U.S. Geological Survey.