Pathfinder
Editor, Senior Moderator
Acidification May Push Already Over-Stressed Oceans into the Red
Rising C02 Concentrations Could Have Increasing Impacts on Key Fisheries and the Billions Depending Upon Them
Cancun/Nairobi/Plymouth, 2 December 2010 - The future impact of rising emissions on the health of seas and oceans may be far more wide-ranging and complex than was previously supposed, a new report released at the UN climate convention meeting in Mexico says.
The study, entitled the Environmental Consequences of Ocean Acidification, has brought together some of the latest scientific research on 'ocean acidification', a process triggered by increasing concentrations of dissolved C02 which is changing the sea's chemistry by lowering the pH of the marine environment.
Launched by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the report confirms concerns that some organisms, such as corals and shellfish may find it increasingly difficult to form their skeletons in the decades to come making it harder to survive let alone thrive. It also shows that ocean acidification can react together with ocean warming so that animals such as crabs have a reduced range of temperatures they can thrive in.
This in turn may have significant future impacts on catches of crabs, mussels and other shellfish; species dependent on coral reefs and ones such as salmon that feed on smaller, shell-building organisms lower down the food chain known as ptetropods, for example.
Other new research is spotlighting fresh areas of concern including findings that some species, including the clown fish made famous in the Disney cartoon Finding Nemo, may find it harder to avoid their predators and to find their way home.
If other fish react the same way, this may have implications for the marine food chain upon which billions of people depend directly or indirectly for protein and livelihoods.
Achim Steiner, UN Under-Secretary General and UNEP Executive Director, said: "Ocean acidification is yet another red flag being raised, carrying planetary health warnings about the uncontrolled growth in greenhouse gas emissions. It is a new and emerging piece in the scientific jigsaw puzzle, but one that is triggering rising concern".
'Whether ocean acidification on its own proves to be a major or a minor challenge to the marine environment and its food chain is to date unknown. But the phenomenon comes against a backdrop of already stressed seas and oceans as a result of over-fishing to other forms of environmental degradation. Thus the public might quite rightly ask how many red flags do governments need to see before the message to act gets through," he said.
Read more:
http://www.unep.org/Documents.Multilingual/Default.asp?DocumentID=653&ArticleID=6849&l=en&t=long
Rising C02 Concentrations Could Have Increasing Impacts on Key Fisheries and the Billions Depending Upon Them
Cancun/Nairobi/Plymouth, 2 December 2010 - The future impact of rising emissions on the health of seas and oceans may be far more wide-ranging and complex than was previously supposed, a new report released at the UN climate convention meeting in Mexico says.
The study, entitled the Environmental Consequences of Ocean Acidification, has brought together some of the latest scientific research on 'ocean acidification', a process triggered by increasing concentrations of dissolved C02 which is changing the sea's chemistry by lowering the pH of the marine environment.
Launched by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the report confirms concerns that some organisms, such as corals and shellfish may find it increasingly difficult to form their skeletons in the decades to come making it harder to survive let alone thrive. It also shows that ocean acidification can react together with ocean warming so that animals such as crabs have a reduced range of temperatures they can thrive in.
This in turn may have significant future impacts on catches of crabs, mussels and other shellfish; species dependent on coral reefs and ones such as salmon that feed on smaller, shell-building organisms lower down the food chain known as ptetropods, for example.
Other new research is spotlighting fresh areas of concern including findings that some species, including the clown fish made famous in the Disney cartoon Finding Nemo, may find it harder to avoid their predators and to find their way home.
If other fish react the same way, this may have implications for the marine food chain upon which billions of people depend directly or indirectly for protein and livelihoods.
Achim Steiner, UN Under-Secretary General and UNEP Executive Director, said: "Ocean acidification is yet another red flag being raised, carrying planetary health warnings about the uncontrolled growth in greenhouse gas emissions. It is a new and emerging piece in the scientific jigsaw puzzle, but one that is triggering rising concern".
'Whether ocean acidification on its own proves to be a major or a minor challenge to the marine environment and its food chain is to date unknown. But the phenomenon comes against a backdrop of already stressed seas and oceans as a result of over-fishing to other forms of environmental degradation. Thus the public might quite rightly ask how many red flags do governments need to see before the message to act gets through," he said.
Read more:
http://www.unep.org/Documents.Multilingual/Default.asp?DocumentID=653&ArticleID=6849&l=en&t=long