The oceans' SOS

[GLT]

The oceans' SOS
The planet's great communal resource provides protein sources and
oxygen and is used for transportation, recreation and inspiration.
It's time to put it at the center of the climate change discussion.


By Tony Haymet and Andrew Dickson

December 13, 2010


The ocean is our global heat reservoir and one of two major carbon
dioxide sinks. If you agree that humans are trapping heat and carbon
dioxide in the planet's atmosphere — and 53 years of rigorous
observations at Scripps and other research institutions show that we
are — then the ocean must be at the very center of the climate
discussion. But it rarely is.

Consider Cancun: The negotiation text presented at the outset of the
climate conference contained exactly one passing reference to the
oceans, submerged in a Mariana Trench of footnotes.

Our stubborn addiction to burning coal, oil and natural gas is
changing not only the composition of the atmosphere but the
composition of the ocean as well. The carbon dioxide those fuels pour
into the air inexorably dissolves into the oceans, causing a process
known as ocean acidification. The oceans have absorbed 30% of the
carbon dioxide that humans have ever produced, and they continue to
absorb more each year.

Get the best in Southern California opinion journalism delivered to
your inbox with our Opinion L.A. newsletter. Sign up »

This force-feeding has changed ocean chemistry. As carbon dioxide is
added to the ocean, it increases the amounts of dissolved hydrogen-
carbonate ions and hydrogen ions (and hence acidity) but decreases the
amount of carbonate ions. By the end of the century, acidity will
probably double from today's levels, unless we stop pouring carbon
dioxide into the atmosphere.

The increasingly scarce carbonate ions are the very ones marine
invertebrates combine with calcium ions to make their shells. Ocean
acidification has been likened to an accelerated case of osteoporosis
that afflicts creatures such as massive coral reefs and pteropods —
tiny snails that are a key food of commercially important fish. There
is also evidence that increasing acidity disrupts the juvenile
development of a variety of marine organisms, including clownfish and
krill. Marine organisms are wonderfully suited to adapt to changes in
seawater chemistry, but never before in history have they been asked
to do this so quickly.

Marine scientists in various countries, including China, Germany and
the United States, are engaged in a variety of national research
programs focusing on the important biological impacts of ocean
acidification. We need to document which fisheries, coral reefs and
marine ecosystems will be affected first, and how long they might take
to recover (if at all). That takes time, but don't be fooled by the
pat response: "We need more research first." We know enough to act
now.

Last month, the Environmental Protection Agency issued a memorandum
encouraging coastal states to start developing assessment methods for
evaluating marine waters based on ocean acidification. But assessment
is not enough.

Nor should we think we can rely on innovation and geo-engineering to
stop acidification. Some have suggested sunshades for the Earth, but
that will neither repair the oceans' chemistry nor reverse the changes
that have occurred thus far, let alone protect against our continuing
release of carbon dioxide. Another suggested antidote — deliberately
modifying the oceans' microbial cycles of carbon and oxygen so as to
interrupt acidification and allow us to continue our current fossil
fuel addiction — would be an act of hubris and desperation. We have a
clear and attainable alternative: making electricity without releasing
carbon dioxide.

Our oceans serve as the primary source of protein for a billion
people. We use them for transport, recreation, vacation and
inspiration. Microbes in the oceans make 50% of the oxygen we breathe,
as well as omega-3 fatty acids that make their way into our food and
help us stay healthy. Their waves and winds may soon help us create
clean energy. And yet we load them full of trash, tolerate
catastrophic oil spills and ignore the impact on them of climate
change and carbon dioxide waste.

It is time we paid respect to this great communal resource and stopped
using it as a dump. It's time we put oceans front and center in the
political climate debate. And it's past time we stopped pouring carbon
dioxide into our air and seas.

Tony Haymet and Andrew Dickson are professors at Scripps Institution
of Oceanography, UC San Diego, in La Jolla.

Copyright © 2010, Los Angeles Times