Immense changes to the world’s oceans, leading to the complete disappearance of marine life are threatened by the main greenhouse gas causing global warming. Action needs to be taken now to reduce global emissions of CO2 from human activities to the atmosphere to avoid the risk of irreversible damage from ocean acidification.
Carbon dioxide (CO2) emitted to the atmosphere by human activities is being absorbed by the oceans, making them more acidic which lowers the pH the measure of acidity.
Many international experts on marine science and human ecology will take part in the two day conference which will be addressed by Daniel Pauly, the director of the Fisheries Centre at the University of B.C.
Various issues such as the oceans in a warming world, the proliferation of marine dead zones, petroleum exploration at sea, social conflicts during fishery crises, and whether human societies are complicit in the collapse of coastal fisheries will be discussed during the conference.
Emissions of carbon dioxide from human activities over the past 200 years have already led to a reduction in the average pH of surface seawater of 0.1 units and could fall by 0.5 units by the year 2100. It is also predicted that ocean acidification would kill Australia’s Great Barrier Reef in 25 years.
Source: Canada