Consequences

Ocean acid threatens food chain.

They call themselves Team Acid and are trawling the Southern Ocean with fine nets to see if the shells of tiny marine snails are thinning because of ocean acidification. Australian Associated Press 07 Jan

Shellfish growers meet acidic water challenge.

West Coast shellfish growers have learned to save the lives of their bivalve stocks by working around the upwelling of increasingly corrosive sea water. Anchorage Daily News 19 Dec

West Coast shellfish farms impacted by ocean acidification.

West Coast shellfish growers have learned to work around upwellings of corrosive waters and save the lives of their bivalve stocks. Increased levels of carbon dioxide, or CO2, in the atmosphere are changing the chemistry of the oceans, making it more acidic. Alaska Journal of Commerce 23 Dec

Fix acid oceans by dumping alkali in them? Forget it.

Suggestions that we can dump large amounts of alkaline chemicals into the oceans to prevent their acidification seems dead in the water. A study shows it would cost trillions of dollars. New Scientist 16 Dec

Science

Acidic oceans threaten fish.

Ocean acidification - caused by climate change - looks likely to damage crucial fish stocks. Two studies published today in Nature Climate Change reveal that high carbon dioxide concentrations can cause death and organ damage in very young fish. The work challenges the belief that fish, unlike organisms with shells or exoskeletons made of calcium carbonate, will be safe as marine CO2 levels rise. Nature 12 Dec

Warning over ocean acidity levels.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature issued a call at the UN climate talks in Durban Monday for countries to urgently address the issue of ocean acidification, caused by greater levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Press Association 29 Nov

New buoy network could help determine long-term impacts of ocean acidification.

A proposal that will likely be before the legislature next session is looking for money to enlarge the state’s Ocean Acidification observation network with new monitoring buoys to provide an early warning system that could help determine the long-term impacts of acidification. Alaska Public Radio Network 29 Nov

Carbon dioxide proves surprise source of hope for reefs at risk.

Coral reefs may be able to withstand climate change better than previously thought, with new research showing some reefs can protect themselves from dangerous ocean acidity by absorbing carbon dioxide. Sydney Australian 09 Nov

Other News

Editorials

A look into the ocean's future.

There is simply no exaggerating the importance of the oceans to earth’s overall ecological balance. Their health affects the health of all terrestrial life. A new report by an international coalition of marine scientists makes for grim reading. It concludes that the oceans are approaching irreversible, potentially catastrophic change. New York Times 16 Jul

Combination of problems poses threat to oceans.

Mass extinction. It's a frightening term frequently associated with dinosaurs. But according to top scientists, a variety of problems such as global warming, habitat destruction, overfishing and pollution could lead to a mass extinction in the oceans that would rival previous extinction events. Battle Creek Enquirer 05 Jul

Face it: Oceans are dying.

How much longer are we going to remain in denial about what’s happening to our planet? The International Program on the State of the Ocean (IPSO) report is based on scientific observation. It is not a theory; it is fact. The oceans are dying. What are we going to do about it? Chico News & Review 23 Jun

Opinion

Declining fisheries will affect us all soon enough.

The warning signs of a growing crisis are clear: the Atlantic bluefin tuna spawning population, estimated at just 40 per cent of its peak in 1974, is now a “species of concern,” along with its cousin, the Pacific bluefin. In British Columbia, ling cod have nearly disappeared. Vancouver Sun 01 Feb

Taking fears of acid oceans with a grain of salt .

Coral reefs around the world are suffering badly from overfishing and various forms of pollution. Yet many experts argue that the greatest threat to them is the acidification of the oceans from the dissolving of man-made carbon dioxide emissions. Wall Street Journal 07 Jan

Prioritizing climate change efforts.

There’s no question the scale of climate challenges facing Asia and the Pacific is daunting ― especially since the fallout of regional climate-related calamities can be felt around the world. Seoul Korea Herald 30 Dec

Temperatures – not acid – could cook coral to death.

A warming ocean is encouraging the growth of coral in the far Southern Hemisphere, according to new research published in Science – suggesting that temperature changes play a bigger role, at least in the near term, in the fate of corals than any ocean acidification. Scientific American 03 Feb

Climate change okay for one coral.

Climate change is wreaking havoc on coral reefs, heating and acidifying the waters in which they live. But some corals are actually benefiting from a warming world, according to a new study. Science 03 Feb

Warming boosts some coral growth.

As coral growth rates decline around the world due to increases in temperature and atmospheric CO2, some reefs off the coast of Western Australia are trending in the opposite direction, a new study has found. Australia ABC News 03 Feb

Study finds coral reef growth thrives in warmer waters.

A government-run research body has found in an extensive study of corals spanning more than 1000km of Australia's coastline that the past 110 years of ocean warming have been good for their growth. Sydney Australian 03 Feb

Some corals like it hot.

Corals on Australia’s Great Barrier Reef have fallen on hard times recently. But on the opposite side of the continent, their West Coast brethren have been living the good life for at least a century, a new study finds. Global warming may be helping these creatures out – at least for now. Science News 03 Feb

Oceans have acidified more in the last 200 years than they did in the previous 21,000.

Man-made carbon emissions have acidified the world's oceans far beyond their natural levels, new research suggests. In some regions, acidity levels rose faster in the last two centuries than they did in the previous 21,000 years, according to a new study. London Daily Mail 23 Jan

Study: Man-made ocean acidity threatens marine life.

Man-made pollution is acidifying the world's ocean and threatening corals and other sea life, an international team of researchers report Monday. The team studied the saturation levels of aragonite, a form of calcium carbonate, which have already dropped five times below the pre-industrial range. USA Today 23 Jan

High CO2 in ocean can cause brain damage in fish.

An international team of scientists says rising carbon dioxide concentrations in sea water can cause significant damage to the brains of fish. Australia ABC News 23 Jan

Global warming: Is CO2 driving fish crazy?

Rising concentrations of carbon dioxide in the ocean may cause neural damage in fish, interfering with their ability to smell and participate in synchronized schooling maneuvers that make them less vulnerable to predators. Summit County Citizens Voice 21 Jan

Puget sound faces acidification threat.

The waters of Puget Sound are at-risk from ocean acidification, Washington State officials said as they designated the entire sound as “waters of concern” in a water quality report to the EPA. Summit County Citizens Voice 11 Jan