REPORTS & MULTIMEDIA / EXPLAINER

CO2 and Ocean Acidification:

Causes, Impacts, Solutions
Published Jan 30, 2019 | Updated Feb 6, 2019

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Carbon pollution is changing the ocean’s chemistry,

slowing its ability to uptake CO2, making it more
acidic, and harming shellfish and other marine life
:
 we depend on.

The ocean has absorbed about 29 percent of global CO2

emissions since the end of the preindustrial era. In the last
decade (from 2008-2017), we’ve dumped into the atmosphere
about 40 gigatons of emissions of heat-trapping gases each year
from the burning of fossil fuels and land-use change—or the
equivalent to 252 million blue whales.

PODCAST

Stressed-Out Fish and Ocean Acidification

Dr. Sarah Cooley explains how changes in ocean chemistry are having a ripple effect
on sea life and our economy.
:
 What is ocean acidification?

When carbon dioxide enters the ocean, it dissolves in saltwater.

First, it forms carbonic acid. Then, this carbonic acid breaks
apart – or “dissociates” – producing bicarbonate ions and
hydrogen ions. Ocean acidification results from an increased
concentration of hydrogen ions and a reduction in carbonate
ions due to the absorption of increased amounts of CO2. Clams,
mussels, crabs, corals, and other sea life rely on carbonate ions
to grow their shells and thrive.

Acidity is a measure (in units of pH) of the concentration of

hydrogen ions in a solution, in this case, ocean water.

For millions of years, the exchange of CO2 between the surface

of the ocean and the atmosphere remained constant. In the past
150 years, humans have greatly increased the amount of CO2 in
the atmosphere by burning fossil fuels and changing land-use
practices. As a result, the ocean has absorbed about 29 percent
of this additional carbon.

This added CO2 has had significant effects on the ocean. Surface
waters are now 30 percent more acidic than they were at the
start of the industrial era. Ocean acidification is now happening
:
 at a faster rate than at any point in the last 66 million years, and
possibly in the last 300 million years. And projections show that
by the end of this century, ocean surface waters could be more
than twice as acidic as they were at the end of last century if we
do not reduce our carbon emissions.

CO2 concentrations drive rising

temperatures and acidification

The rising concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is

driving up ocean surface temperatures and causing ocean
acidification. Although warming and acidification are different
phenomena, they interact to the detriment of marine
ecosystems. These changes to the ocean aren’t occurring at the
same rates everywhere: there are significant differences across
gradients of temperature, latitude, and depth.

The rate at which water absorbs CO2 decreases as water

temperature increases. This means that polar regions like
Alaska, where ocean water is relatively cold, can take up more
CO2 than the warmer tropics. As a result, polar surface waters
are generally acidifying faster than those in other latitudes, and
on average, warmer regions of the ocean are releasing CO2 into
the atmosphere instead of absorbing it.
:
 The regional differences in ocean acidification can also be
partially explained by the effects of ocean circulation patterns.
Due to prevailing wind patterns and other natural phenomena,
the ocean upwells nutrient-rich and more acidic or corrosive
deep waters. Under natural conditions, an infusion of nutrient-
rich, cool, and corrosive deep waters into the upper layers is
beneficial to coastal ecosystems. But in regions with acidifying
waters, an infusion of cooler deep waters (which also tend to be
more acidic) amplifies the effects of existing acidification.

In other regions, usually the tropics, rising temperatures in

surface waters is slowing down the exchange of carbon between
deep waters and surface waters. Here wind plays a key role: it
mixes upper and deeper waters and carries the CO2-saturated
waters to deeper areas of the ocean. With rising surface
temperatures, it’s harder for winds to mix these layers, which
become increasingly stratified, meaning that they sit on top of
one another. Consequently, in locations with warmer waters,
upper layers are becoming more saturated with CO2 and unable
to absorb more, and lower layers have less oxygen (known as
deoxygenation).

Ocean acidification affects marine life

:
 Coastal and marine ecosystems are under tremendous stress
from climate change. Ocean acidification, paired up with other
climate impacts like warming waters, deoxygenation, melting
ice, and coastal erosion, pose real threats to the survival of many
marine species.

Ocean acidification is particularly detrimental to species that

build their skeletons and shells from calcium carbonate (like
clams, mussels, crabs, phytoplankton, and corals), and that
constitute the bottom of the food chain. Acidification reduces
the availability of carbonate ions in ocean water, which provide
the building blocks these organisms need to make their shells
and skeletons, significantly reducing the chances for their
offspring to survive.

In the presence of other climate stressors, ocean acidification

makes it harder for species to bounce back. Take the problem of
coral bleaching, for example. Corals maintain a mutualistic
relationship with photosynthetic algae living in their tissue:
corals provide shelter for the algae and each provide the other
with nutrients necessary for their survival. But when water
temperatures get too high, corals expel these algae, leaving them
more vulnerable to disease and less able to maintain and build
their skeletal structure.

Ocean acidification hinders the ability of corals to recover from

:
 these bleaching events because it reduces the amount of calcium
carbonate available that corals need to grow back to health. A
report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change finds
that 99 percent of the world’s warm-water coral reefs could
disappear if global average temperatures rise 2°C or more above
pre-industrial levels.

Ocean acidification affects the economy,

people’s livelihoods, and communities

Shellfish fisheries are also feeling the impacts of carbon

pollution. In places like the Pacific Coast of the United States,
warming waters and ocean acidification are expected to reduce
the Dungeness crab populations, the highest- revenue fishery in
Oregon and Washington.

Fisheries in the Northwest are already feeling the impacts of

warming waters, which are wreaking havoc in the region and
causing multimillion-dollar losses to local economies. Warming
ocean temperatures have caused a rapid increase of toxic algal
blooms. Toxic algae produce domoic acid, a dangerous
neurotoxin, that builds up in the bodies of shellfish, posing a risk
to human health. As a result, many West Coast fisheries have
been forced to shut down. With increasingly acidic waters, and
:
 the subsequent reduction of the minerals that shellfish need to
grow, these fisheries face serious challenges into the future.

Regarding warming, the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's

Associations (PCFFA) filed a lawsuit against 30 fossil fuel
companies in 2018. PCFFA alleges that these companies
promoted and profited from increased oil, coal, and natural gas
consumption despite being aware of the link between increased
heat-trapping emissions and climate change. It is the first case
brought by an industry association against fossil fuel companies.

Why should we all care, and what can

you do?

If you live in Kansas or Oklahoma, you may think that ocean

acidification doesn’t affect you. But it does. Ocean acidification
impacts important sectors of the US economy, like fisheries and
tourism, it affects food supply, and makes global warming worse
by hindering the oceans’ ability to absorb CO2. For communities
that depend on coastal resources, their way of life and cultural
identity are on the line.

If CO2 emissions continue unabated, by the end of the century,

ocean acidification is expected to reduce harvests of U.S.
:
 shellfish. It’s estimated that by the end of the century annual
supplies of clams could decrease by 35 percent, oysters supplies
could fall by 50 percent, and scallops could see a decline of 55
percent. Overall, the shellfish industry could experience
cumulative consumer losses of $230 million. In this same
scenario, ocean acidification paired with warming could cost
$140 billion in today’s dollars in lost recreational benefits
associated with coral reefs, and the US coral reef recreation
industry could decline in value by more than 90 percent by 2100.

The most effective way to limit ocean acidification is to act on

climate change, implementing solutions to dramatically reduce
the use of fossil fuels. If we dramatically cut our global warming
emissions, and we limit future warming, we can significantly
reduce the harm to marine ecosystems.

The most recent National Climate Assessment projects that by

taking action now we could avoid steep declines in fish catch
potential, thus reducing harm to fisheries.

The IPCC report highlights that with significant emissions

reductions, 30% of coral reefs would be spared from
extinction.

We also need to ensure that resources reach those communities

that will be most affected by ocean acidification. At present,
taxpayers foot the bill for climate damages and adaptation costs.
:
 However, climate change negatively impacts local economies
and stymies these communities’ ability to adapt.

Courts are beginning to consider holding fossil fuel producers

accountable for damage they knew their products were causing
because they chose to misinform investors and the public about
those risks instead of acting to mitigate them. Making a case for
these companies’ responsibility, Henry Shue, professor of
politics and international relations at the University of Oxford,
argues “Companies knowingly violated the most basic moral
principle of 'do no harm,' and now they must remedy the harm
they caused by paying damages and their proportion of
adaptation costs.” Scientific findings that show the extent of the
damage caused by carbon pollution can inform those efforts.

© Union of Concerned Scientists We are a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. 2 Brattle Square,

Cambridge MA 02138, USA (617) 547-5552
: