Acidification irreversible ‘on timescales of tens of thousands of years’

By 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. By Nanet Poulsen 14/12/2009 06:10 The secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) released Monday a major study in collaboration with the UNEP […]

Fishermen say carbon dioxide having ‘really scary’ ocean effect

By Daniel Whitten Jeremy Brown, a fisherman from the Pacific Northwest, is pulling things from the ocean he says are so disturbing that he came to Washington to warn U.S. lawmakers about it. “This is not overfishing, this is something far larger,” said Brown, one of 10 people who met with lawmakers and legislative aides […]

Coral climate crisis puts 250 million at risk: U.N.

By David Fogarty, Climate Change Correspondent, AsiaCOPENHAGENSat Dec 12, 2009 3:48pm EST COPENHAGEN (Reuters) – More than 250 million people risk losing their livelihoods because of dying tropical coral reefs in what a senior U.N. environmental economist said on Saturday was part of a double climate crisis facing the world. “We forget that there are […]

Ocean acidification rates pose disaster for marine life, major study shows

Report launched from leading marine scientists at Copenhagen summit shows seas absorbing dangerous levels of CO2 By Severin Carrellwww.guardian.co.uk, Thursday 10 December 2009 10.52 GMT The world’s oceans are becoming acidic at a faster rate than at any time in the last 55m years, threatening disaster for marine life and food supplies across the globe, […]

And what if climate refugees have no place to go?

PARIS, Nov 29 (AFP) Nov 29, 2009 — The UN refugee agency says some 24 million people worldwide have fled their homes due to environmental factors, and warns their ranks could grow tenfold by mid-century, spurred greatly by climate change. Sheer numbers and the lack of legal status under international law mean a vicious humanitarian […]

Taiwan coral reefs need 100 years to recover

Taipei (AFP) Nov 3, 2009 – Coral reefs off Taiwan will need up to 100 years to recover from Typhoon Morakot, which lashed the island in early August killing more than 600 people, a scientist said Tuesday. Latest research shows the reefs, near volcanic Orchid Island southeast of Taiwan, have sustained even worse damage than […]

Saibai Islanders resort to prayer as sea rises around them

By Ben Cubby EARLIER this year, when their village was knee deep in water following another king tide, the Saibai Islanders turned to prayer to turn back the waters. It appeared to work, in that the tide eventually retreated, but the residents of Saibai – a low-lying Australian island just south of Papua New Guinea […]

Graph of the Day: Aragonite Saturation and Ocean pH Change

Changes in surface ocean pH relative to pre-industrial values for different atmospheric CO2 stabilization levels, 380 ppm and 650 ppm plotted over existing shallow-water coral reef locations (shown as magenta dots). Results are obtained by adding model-predicted perturbations in geochemical fields to modern observations, except for the Arctic Ocean where results are model simulations only […]

Desperate plan to freeze coral samples as reef ecosystems die

By Matt McGrathBBC News, Copenhagen The prospects of saving the world’s coral reefs now appear so bleak that plans are being made to freeze samples to preserve them for the future. A meeting in Denmark took evidence from researchers that most coral reefs will not survive even if tough regulations on greenhouse gases are put […]

We will be billions of dollars poorer when coral reefs die

By Shanta Barley The world’s coral reefs “earn” $172 billion every year, but they’re on the brink of collapse, economist says The world’s coral reefs save us $172 billion every year, but they’re on the brink of collapse (PDF) because of political inertia, an ecological economist has told the global Diversitas biodiversity conference in Cape […]

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