New study: Substantial irreversible damage to ocean ecosystems

y 2050, ocean acidity could increase by 150 percent. This increase is 100 times faster than any change in acidity experienced in the marine environment over the last 20 million years.

The secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) released Monday a major study in collaboration with the UNEP World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC).

According to the study, seas and oceans absorb approximately one quarter of the carbon dioxide emitted to the atmosphere from the burning of fossil fuels, deforestation and other human activities. As more and more carbon dioxide has been emitted into the atmosphere, the oceans have absorbed greater amounts at increasingly rapid rates.

Without this level of absorption by the oceans, atmospheric CO2 levels would be significantly higher than at present and the effects of global climate change would be more marked.

However, the absorption of atmospheric CO2 has resulted in changes to the chemical balance of the oceans, causing them to become more acidic.

Read on | New study: Substantial irreversible damage to ocean ecosystems - COP15 United Nations Climate Change Conference Copenhagen 2009

See also | Convention on Biological Diversity - Press release

Labels: Climate Change, Copenhagen

- posted by DD @ 12:10 p.m. Perma Link/Print  

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