Earlier this month conservation group Oceana predicted that ocean acidification could lead to enormous economic losses, including damage to the coral reefs off the Hawaiian Islands that produce around $360 million in economic benefits each year, and harm to the $10 billion global shellfish-farming industry. Deep-sea corals such as those in Alaskan waters provide sites for fish to feed, reproduce and hide from predators – in an area that produces more than half of US commercial fish landings. And such corals are likely to suffer before their tropical counterparts as cold waters absorb more carbon dioxide.
Recently, Australian scientists predicted that the “tipping point” for harm to the Southern Ocean could be 450 ppm. Oceana, meanwhile, proposes that stabilization of atmospheric carbon-dioxide levels at 350 ppm is the key to prevent significant damage from acidification. But, given that levels have already reached 385 ppm, this will require massive reductions in carbon emissions.
Continue reading ‘Sour future for the oceans?’
