Latest Ocean acidification Stories

- The Natural Resources Defense Council, Ocean Conservancy, Oceana and the United Nations Environment Programme join the effort - - World premiere of Acid Test: The Challenge of Ocean Acidification with Sigourney Weaver - SILVER SPRING, Md., June 8 /PRNewswire/ -- This summer, Planet Green presents Blue August, a robust month of on-air and on-line programming that brings to life the wonders and mysteries of the aquatic -- from the majesty of our oceans to the critical issue of clean...

Canadian zoologists have determined elevated water temperatures and high carbon dioxide concentrations can boost the growth of a species of sea star. The University of British Columbia scientists said their study is one of the first to look at the impact of ocean acidification on marine invertebrates that don't have a large calcified skeleton or external shell. The researchers said their findings challenge current assumptions about the potential impact of climate change on marine species....

Dozens of the world's top scientific academies urged the United Nations on Monday to include the issue of ocean acidification in upcoming discussions aimed at establishing a global climate change treaty.Their appeal coincided with the start of a 12-day meeting in Bonn under the banner of the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).  The group is tasked with guiding 192 parties towards a climate change agreement in Copenhagen in December that will establish targets for curbing...

Possible job cuts and revenue loss as a result of ocean acidificationOcean acidification, a direct result of increased CO2 emission, is set to change the Earth's marine ecosystems forever and may have a direct impact on our economy, resulting in substantial revenue declines and job losses.Intensive fossil-fuel burning and deforestation over the last two centuries have increased atmospheric CO2 levels by almost 40%, which has in turn fundamentally altered ocean chemistry by acidifying surface...

Disruptions causing decline of coral reefs around the worldCorals, it appears, have a genetic complexity that rivals that of humans, have sophisticated systems of biological communication that are being stressed by global change, and are only able to survive based on proper function of an intricate symbiotic relationship with algae that live within their bodies, say researchers in a paper published in this week's issue of the journal Science.Disruptions in these biological and communication...

U.S. marine scientists say they have discovered that rising levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide are threatening shellfish populations in many ecosystems. The researchers, led by ecologist Whitman Miller of the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, said the increasing CO2 levels are contributing to the acidification of open ocean, coastal and estuarine waters. For shellfish and other organisms having calcium carbonate shells and structures, the problem begins when atmospheric CO2...

Overfishing and disease have decimated shellfish populations in many of the world's temperate estuarine and coastal ecosystems. Smithsonian scientists, led by Whitman Miller, ecologist at the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center in Edgewater, Md., have discovered another serious threat to these valuable filter feeders"”rising levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide that contribute to the acidification of open ocean, coastal and estuarine waters. Their findings are being published in the...

Representatives from over 70 nations at the World Ocean Conference in Indonesia are asking for oceans to be included on the agenda of global climate change talks aimed at finding a successor to the Kyoto Protocol, the AFP reported.Delegates want the issue to be included in crucial climate talks in Copenhagen in December, as an effort to reverse the impact of global warming on the oceans.Cuts in ocean pollution, funding for sustainable development in poor countries, greater research into how...

Drillship JOIDES Resolution completes first expedition as redesigned shipThe Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP) drillship JOIDES Resolution is returning to port in Honolulu this week after a two-month voyage to chart detailed climate history in the equatorial Pacific Ocean. The expedition was the first of two back-to-back voyages of a scientific project called Pacific Equatorial Age Transect (PEAT). It was the first international scientific drilling expedition after the JOIDES...

A $16 million program launched by the UK government will fund a five-year research study on ocean acidification, BBC News reported.Oceans are becoming more acidic as a result of CO2 from human activities being absorbed by seawater, researchers said, adding that acidification of the oceans will be one of the major environmental concerns of this century.The 5-year study will have researchers analyzing and assessing how marine ecosystems are affected in the Atlantic, Antarctic and Arctic...