A report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change finds that 99 percent of the worlds warm-water coral reefs could disappear if global average temperatures rise 2C or more above pre-industrial levels. Reefs can disappear and the extinction of entire species is possible.
Learn About 5 Scary Consequences To Ocean Acidification Dolphinaris
To combat the worst effects of the deadly trio CO2 emissions need to be cut significantly and immediately at the source.
How to stop ocean acidification. In 2007 oysters in the Pacific Northwest began to die in droves. How Growing Sea Plants Can Help Slow Ocean Acidification Researchers are finding that kelp eelgrass and other vegetation can effectively absorb CO2 and reduce acidity in the ocean. Fight ocean acidification by reducing your carbon dioxide emissions at home at the office and on the road.
Take oysters for example. Efforts are being made in the Philippines to increase awareness of the potential impacts of ocean acidification. Ocean acidification hinders the ability of corals to recover from these bleaching events because it reduces the amount of calcium carbonate available that corals need to grow back to health.
Fifty years ago the native oyster population could filter the entire Chesapeake in five days. Reversing ocean acidification with aggressive CO2 removal will take more than 700 years It will take more than 700 years to reverse ocean acidification to the point of pre-industrial conditions. Fight coastal acidification by limiting nutrient.
And India concluded that using satellite data in this way may be the most efficient way to monitor the. Using funding from the European Space Agency the researchers from Europe the US. The only real lasting way to protect coral reefs is to make deep cuts in our carbon dioxide emissions says Carnegies Ken Caldeira a co-author on the study published yesterday in Nature.
The concept of ocean acidification isnt new but it was only recently that ocean chemistry started to hit closer to home. What causes ocean acidification. These pollutants include carbon dioxide emissions acid-rain forming emissions and nutrients.
Currently expert opinion is that the only method of reducing the impacts of ocean acidification on a global scale is through urgent and substantial reductions in. EPA Action to Reduce Pollution. While some species will be harmed by ocean acidification algae and seagrasses may benefit from higher CO 2 conditions in the ocean as they require CO 2 for photosynthesis just like plants on land.
According to C40 Cities Global Leadership Program Altering or stopping ocean acidification on human-relevant time-scales will ultimately depend upon reducing net CO2 emissions into the atmosphere 2012 The program was formed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in cities since over 70 of CO2 emissions are produced within the city limits. However it will take global action to decrease our carbon emission s and help to. There are some ongoing studies examining if growing seaweed can help slow ocean acidification.
Initiatives to reduce ocean acidification-causing carbon dioxide emissions are part of EPAs larger efforts to address climate change. Increased ocean temperatures and oxygen loss act concurrently with ocean acidification and constitute the deadly trio of climate change pressures on the marine environment. As we have learned above some 30 percent of CO 2 emissions dissolve into the ocean so every action taken to meet the Paris agreement contributes not only to mitigating climate change but also to slowing and perhaps ultimately reversing ocean acidification.
The recent Paris Agreement could provide a glimmer of hope. EPA is working to address pollutants that are causing ocean and coastal acidification. But fishing and disease outbreaks have reduced oysters to just 1 of their historic population.
An adult oyster is capable of filtering 25-50 gallons of water a day. Growing these plants in local waters scientists say could help mitigate the damaging impacts of acidification on marine life.
