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Ocean acidification may hurt reproduction in marine life mongabay.com July 30, 2008
The study looked at the impact of lower pH levels on Heliocidaris erythrogramma sea urchins. The researchers lowered the pH from 8.1, the present value of sea water, to 7.7, the forecast pH value of sea water in 2100 assuming CO2 emissions continue at their current rate. The found a 25 percent drop in the fertilization success of the species due to a decline in the mobility of its sperm. "A 25 percent drop in fertility is the equivalent of a 25 percent drop in the reproductive population. It remains to be seen whether other species exhibit the same effect, but, translated to commercially and ecologically important species such as lobsters, crabs, mussels and fish, acidification would have far reaching consequences," said Jon Havenhand, a researcher from the Department of Marine Ecology working at the Sven Loven Centre for Marine Sciences in Tjarno. Marine scientists have warned that ocean acidification poses other threats to marine life, including reducing the capacity of many organisms to form calcium carbonate shells. Plankton, pteropods, mollusks, and corals are particularly at risk. Related articles CO2 emissions could doom fishing industry (7/3/2008) Aside from warming climate, rising carbon dioxide emissions are contributing to ocean acidification, threatening sea live, warn researchers writing in the journal Science. This trend makes it all the more important to reduce emissions, argue the authors. Ocean acidification worse than expected, threatens sea life (5/22/2008) Increasing ocean acidification along the continental shelf of North America will likely have negative impacts on marine ecosystems, including the corrosion of calcium carbonate exoskeletons in many organisms, warn researchers writing in the journal Science. Global warming will degrade 98% of coral reefs by 2050 (12/13/2007) Ocean acidification caused by human-induced carbon dioxide emissions could dramatically alter the planet's coral reefs and marine food chains, warns research published in the December 14 issue of Science and presented at the fall meeting of the American Geophysical Union (AGU) in San Francisco. CO2 emissions cause ocean acidification, threaten sea life (9/21/2007) Human-induced carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions could alter ocean chemistry to the point where it will violate U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Quality Criteria by mid-century if emissions are not significantly reduce, reports a team of scientists writing in the September 25, 2007 issue of Geophysical Research Letters. The commentary is the first to warn that atmospheric CO2 emissions will cause ocean waters to violate EPA water quality criteria. Industrial pollution acidifies ocean, threatens marine animals (9/3/2007) Ocean acidification, already a concern due to rising levels of carbon dioxide, is worsening due to nitric acid and sulfuric acid from industry, report researchers writing in this week's issue of the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Science (PNAS).
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