Apr
24
Chemical composition of ocean changes to “unprecedented rate”
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The carbon dioxide emissions that contribute to global warming are also acidifying the oceans at the fastest pace in hundreds of thousands of years, said Thursday the National Research Council of the United States.
“The chemical composition of the ocean is changing at an unprecedented pace and scale due to emissions of carbon dioxide produced by man,” the council said. “The pace of change than any that has occurred at least in the past hundreds of thousands of years,” he said.
Increased ocean acidity corrodes coral reefs, interferes with the ability of some fish species found their colonies and can cause damage to commercial shellfish such as mussels and oysters, preventing them from forming their protective shells.
Corrosion occurs when carbon dioxide is absorbed by the oceans and reacts with water to produce carbonic acid. Unless the carbon dioxide emissions are contained, the oceans become more acidic, the report said.
Oceans absorb about one third of all carbon dioxide emissions generated by man, including fossil fuel burning, cement production and deforestation, he said.
Rising acidification is 0.1 points on the scale of 14 points pH, which means that this indicator has changed more since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution than at any time in the last 800,000 years, according to the study.
The report recommended establishing a council observation network to monitor the oceans over time.
Scientists have studied this growing phenomenon for years, but ocean acidification is generally a lower priority in international discussions and the United States on climate change.
At a hearing Thursday in U.S. Congress, the actress Sigourney Weaver, star of the movie “Avatar” and narrator of the documentary “Acid Test” on acidification the ocean, he spoke of its dangers.
“I think the science is so compelling and easy to understand and (…) and we have run out of time to discuss this,” said Weaver by phone after the hearing. “Now we have to take action,” he said.
(Editing by Patricia Avila Spanish)