[graffis-l] ACID SEAS THREAT TO CORAL REEFS-STUDY

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Acid Seas Huge Threat to Coral Reefs - Study

 

 

 

Posted by: " Mark Graffis "

mgraffis

mgraffis

 

 

Fri Dec 14, 2007 4:14 am (PST)

http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/46002/story.htm

Acid Seas Huge Threat to Coral Reefs - Study

-------------------------

MIAMI - In less than 50 years, oceans may be too acidic for coral

reefs to grow because of carbon emissions from the burning of fossil

fuels by humans, according to research released on Thursday.

And unless still rising carbon dioxide emissions fall in the near

future, existing reefs could all be dying by 2100, scientists said.

Australia's Great Barrier Reef, the world's largest coral expanse,

and Caribbean reefs will be among the first casualties, according to the

scientists who worked on a major coral project worldwide.

The study, to be published in Friday's issue of the journal Science,

should serve as a warning to delegates to a UN climate conference in

Bali, Indonesia, this week, the researchers said.

" We need rapid reductions in carbon dioxide levels, " said

Ove Hoegh-Guldberg, a marine science professor at Australia's University

of Queensland and a lead author of the study.

" The impact of climate change on coral reefs is much closer than

we appreciated, " he said in a telephone interview from Australia.

" It's just around the corner. "

The study found emissions of carbon dioxide, the main

" greenhouse " gas contributing to global warming, are boosting

acidity so much that sea water covering 98 percent of all coral reefs may

be too acidic by 2050 for some corals to live, and while others may

survive they would be unable to build reefs.

" Unless we take action soon there is a real possibility that

coral reefs, and everything that depends on them, will not survive this

century, " researcher Ken Caldeira said.

Coral reefs, delicate undersea structures resembling rocky gardens

that are made by tiny animals called coral polyps, are important

nurseries and shelters for fish and other sea life.

They are also considered valuable protection for coastlines from high

seas.

Reefs are a critical source of food for millions of people and are

important for tourism from Australia to the islands of the Caribbean and

the Florida Keys.

MEDICAL TREASURE

They produce US$375 billion a year in economic value worldwide,

according to The Nature Conservancy environmental group, and are

considered a storehouse of potential 21st century medicines for cancer

and other diseases.

The polyps secrete calcium carbonate to build the stony base of the

reef. Corals grow slowly, as little as half an inch (one cm) per year and

the fragile structures they create are easily damaged by ship groundings,

storms and other threats.

The researchers, who based their work on computer simulations of

ocean chemistry, said about one-third of carbon dioxide, or CO2, put into

the atmosphere is absorbed by the ocean, slowing global warming but

polluting the sea.

The CO2 produces carbonic acid, the substance that gives soft drinks

their fizz. The acid reduces concentrations of carbonate-ions, which are

critical to reef building.

Current levels of CO2 in the atmosphere are 380 parts per million,

researchers said, but rising quickly as humans increase their emissions

by burning fossil fuels.

If trends hold, the concentration could rise to 880 ppm by 2100. But

even if atmospheric CO2 stabilized at 550 ppm, which would take a

concerted international effort, no existing coral reef could survive, the

researchers said.

" We have the world at stake here. It's a global emergency, "

said Hoegh-Guldberg. " We've got to have (CO2) levels falling by

2015. "

Australian and Caribbean reefs are at the greatest risk because they

already have lower carbonate-ion concentrations and therefore would

" reach critical levels sooner, " he said.

The research should serve as a warning to those who look after reefs

to ramp up the fight against other threats to them, which include

overfishing, pollution from nearby land and a host of diseases, the

researchers said.

" We need to think of this as the straw that broke the camel's

back, " said Peter Sale of the United Nations University. (Editing by

Michael Christie and Richard Meares)

Story by Jim Loney

Story 14/12/2007

ACID SEAS AND CORAL FEEFSAt 09:02 AM 12/14/07, you wrote:

Acid Seas Huge Threat to Coral

Reefs - Study

Posted by: " Mark Graffis " mgraffis

mgraffis

Fri Dec 14, 2007 4:14 am (PST)

http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/46002/story.htm

Acid Seas Huge Threat to Coral Reefs - Study

-------------------------

MIAMI - In less than 50 years, oceans may be too acidic for coral reefs

to grow because of carbon emissions from the burning of fossil fuels by

humans, according to research released on Thursday.

And unless still rising carbon dioxide emissions fall in the near future,

existing reefs could all be dying by 2100, scientists said.

Australia's Great Barrier Reef, the world's largest coral expanse, and

Caribbean reefs will be among the first casualties, according to the

scientists who worked on a major coral project worldwide.

The study, to be published in Friday's issue of the journal Science,

should serve as a warning to delegates to a UN climate conference in

Bali, Indonesia, this week, the researchers said.

" We need rapid reductions in carbon dioxide levels, " said Ove

Hoegh-Guldberg, a marine science professor at Australia's University of

Queensland and a lead author of the study.

" The impact of climate change on coral reefs is much closer than we

appreciated, " he said in a telephone interview from Australia.

" It's just around the corner. "

The study found emissions of carbon dioxide, the main

" greenhouse " gas contributing to global warming, are boosting

acidity so much that sea water covering 98 percent of all coral reefs may

be too acidic by 2050 for some corals to live, and while others may

survive they would be unable to build reefs.

" Unless we take action soon there is a real possibility that coral

reefs, and everything that depends on them, will not survive this

century, " researcher Ken Caldeira said.

Coral reefs, delicate undersea structures resembling rocky gardens that

are made by tiny animals called coral polyps, are important nurseries and

shelters for fish and other sea life.

They are also considered valuable protection for coastlines from high

seas.

Reefs are a critical source of food for millions of people and are

important for tourism from Australia to the islands of the Caribbean and

the Florida Keys.

MEDICAL TREASURE

They produce US$375 billion a year in economic value worldwide, according

to The Nature Conservancy environmental group, and are considered a

storehouse of potential 21st century medicines for cancer and other

diseases.

The polyps secrete calcium carbonate to build the stony base of the reef.

Corals grow slowly, as little as half an inch (one cm) per year and the

fragile structures they create are easily damaged by ship groundings,

storms and other threats.

The researchers, who based their work on computer simulations of ocean

chemistry, said about one-third of carbon dioxide, or CO2, put into the

atmosphere is absorbed by the ocean, slowing global warming but polluting

the sea.

The CO2 produces carbonic acid, the substance that gives soft drinks

their fizz. The acid reduces concentrations of carbonate-ions, which are

critical to reef building.

Current levels of CO2 in the atmosphere are 380 parts per million,

researchers said, but rising quickly as humans increase their emissions

by burning fossil fuels.

If trends hold, the concentration could rise to 880 ppm by 2100. But even

if atmospheric CO2 stabilized at 550 ppm, which would take a concerted

international effort, no existing coral reef could survive, the

researchers said.

" We have the world at stake here. It's a global emergency, "

said Hoegh-Guldberg. " We've got to have (CO2) levels falling by

2015. "

Australian and Caribbean reefs are at the greatest risk because they

already have lower carbonate-ion concentrations and therefore would

" reach critical levels sooner, " he said.

The research should serve as a warning to those who look after reefs to

ramp up the fight against other threats to them, which include

overfishing, pollution from nearby land and a host of diseases, the

researchers said.

" We need to think of this as the straw that broke the camel's

back, " said Peter Sale of the United Nations University. (Editing by

Michael Christie and Richard Meares)

Story by Jim Loney

Story 14/12/2007

 

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An unfortunate way to put it seeing our seas are threatened!

 

MIAMI - In less than 50 years, oceans may be too acidic for coral reefs to grow because of carbon emissions from the burning of fossil fuels by humans, according to research released on Thursday.

And unless still rising carbon dioxide emissions fall in the near future, existing reefs could all be dying by 2100, scientists said.

Australia's Great Barrier Reef, the world's largest coral expanse, and Caribbean reefs will be among the first casualties, according to the scientists who worked on a major coral project worldwide.