NRDC: Acidic Oceans
How closely is ocean acidification related to global climate change?
Ocean acidification and global climate change are two -- independent -- impacts of rising atmospheric CO2 concentrations. When fossil fuels are burned, carbon dioxide is produced. Approximately two thirds of that CO2 goes into the atmosphere, where it causes global warming; the remaining third is absorbed by the world’s oceans, where it causes ocean acidification. Two problems, one culprit.
Where are the effects of ocean acidification most pronounced right now?
Acidification is expected to be most pronounced in regions where water chemistry is changing rapidly and where sensitive organisms are abundant (and ecologically or economically important). With respect to water chemistry, scientists are most concerned about regions of coastal upwelling, such as the West Coast of the United States, and cold areas such as the poles. The Arctic is predicted to be corrosive to some types of shelled organisms in the next 10 to 30 years. And given the sensitivity of tropical corals, nations that are dependent on healthy coral reefs are expected to feel ecological and socio-economic impacts in the very near future.
It’s only in the past few years that scientists have begun to monitor and study the biological impacts of ocean acidification. The problem has been building up for many decades, but we didn’t really understand it. So we don’t yet have a clear picture of the global impacts. The Pacific Northwest oyster story is an early example of the problems we’ll face, but we expect to see a lot more once our research and observations are expanded. NRDC is pushing for more monitoring and research so that we understand what our seas and the people who depend on them are up against.
Are the problems that we’re seeing in the Pacific Northwest oyster industry going to get worse and spread elsewhere?
As we speak, roughly one million tons of CO2 are being absorbed by the oceans every hour. And the source of this pollution -- global emissions of greenhouse gases -- is expected to rise, rapidly. By mid-century, the average atmospheric CO2 concentration could easily reach double the pre-industrial concentration, and so could the drop in ocean pH. That means the problems we are seeing in the Pacific Northwest oyster industry are most likely going to get worse and spread elsewhere. Although they’ve held off disaster for now, the oyster hatcheries will need to continue developing techniques to protect their "crop" from the shifting chemistry of the sea.
What can we do about acidification on a larger scale? Is there a way to get the ocean’s chemistry back into balance?
There is no way to artificially restore the chemistry of the world’s oceans to pre-industrial levels. It will happen naturally as the ocean water mixes with the deep sea sediments, which act to neutralize the enhanced acidity, but that takes thousands of years. The only broad-scale solution to ocean acidification is to reduce and stabilize carbon dioxide emissions right now to keep things from getting worse.