Decline in global oceanic oxygen content during the past five decades

http://www.themillbrookindependent.com/content/sos-sucking-oxygen-out-sea
SOS: SUCKING OXYGEN OUT OF THE SEA
by Bill Schlesinger
Tue Mar 21st, 2017
This report is based on this paper -
Decline in global oceanic oxygen content during the past five decades
http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v542/n7641/abs/nature21399.html

Schmidtko, S., L. Stramma, and M. Visbeck. 2017.   
Nature 542: 335-339.

http://www.co2science.org/subject/o/summaries/acidificationdiatoms.php

Ocean Acidification (Effects on Marine Plants: Phytoplankton, Diatoms) -- Summary
In conclusion, and has been found to be the case for essentially all types of marine phytoplankton, the real-world data that have been obtained to date suggest that earth's diatoms will manage just fine as the air's CO2 content continues to climb to ever-greater heights. And as diatoms serve as primary producers in numerous marine food chains, the several trophic levels above them should also be similarly benefited by the dreaded phenomenon of "ocean acidification."

http://sites.duke.edu/writing20_12_f2011/2011/09/05/ocean-acidification-and-diatoms/

Ocean Acidification and Diatoms

Another experimented conducted entailed the creation of an equilibrium of atmospheric carbon dioxide with bubbled aqueous carbon dioxide. When the carbon dioxide was made to be twice that of normal conditions, consumption increased by 27%. When the carbon dioxide was tripled, the diatoms’ consumption was 39% higher. Estimates say that such carbon dioxide consumption as that described here may in have kept atmospheric levels to 90% of what they would be otherwise since start of the industrial revolution. In yet another study, it was found that certain species of diatoms grow 20% faster when exposed to increased carbon dioxide.

This potentially positive consequence of the increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide is not nearly enough to outweigh the negative results of anthropogenic carbon dioxide. Some algae do not, in fact, benefit from increased levels of carbon dioxide. Zooxanthellae, for example, exist symbiotically with coral reefs. If the zooxanthellae colonies grow too large, then they will be doing so at the expense of their coral homes. Some species of phytoplankton may react poorly to the increased acidity. Then we must factor in things such as coral bleaching, coastal erosion, decalcification, and the loss of biodiversity. Indeed, for every possible upside that comes from ocean acidification, it seems that there are two potentially devastating ramifications.

Global change and the future of harmful algal blooms in the ocean

http://www.int-res.com/articles/theme/m470p207.pdf


MARINE ECOLOGY PROGRESS SERIES
Mar Ecol Prog Ser


Vol. 470: 207–233, 2012
doi: 10.3354/meps10047
Published December 6, 2012



Global change and the future of harmful algal blooms in the ocean


Fei Xue Fu*, Avery O. Tatters, David A. Hutchins

*The University of Southern California, Department of Biological Sciences, 3616 Trousdale Parkway, Los Angeles, California 90089, USA

ABSTRACT: The frequency and intensity of harmful algal blooms (HABs) and phytoplankton
community shifts toward toxic species have increased worldwide. Although most research has
focused on eutrophication as the cause of this trend, many other global- and regional-scale
anthropogenic influences may also play a role. Ocean acidification (high pCO2/low pH), greenhouse
warming, shifts in nutrient availability, ratios, and speciation, changing exposure to solar
irradiance, and altered salinity all have the potential to profoundly affect the growth and toxicity
of these phytoplankton. Except for ocean acidification, the effects of these individual factors on
harmful algae have been studied extensively. In this review, we summarize our understanding of
the influence of each of these single factors on the physiological properties of important marine
HAB groups. We then examine the much more limited literature on how rising CO2 together with
these other concurrent environmental changes may affect these organisms, including what is possibly
the most critical property of many species: toxin production. New work with several diatom
and dinoflagellate species suggests that ocean acidification combined with nutrient limitation or
temperature changes may dramatically increase the toxicity of some harmful groups. This observation
underscores the need for more in-depth consideration of poorly understood interactions
between multiple global change variables on HAB physiology and ecology. A key limitation of
global change experiments is that they typically span only a few algal generations, making it
difficult to predict whether they reflect likely future decadal- or century-scale trends. We conclude
by calling for thoughtfully designed experiments and observations that include adequate
consideration of complex multivariate interactive effects on the long-term responses of HABs to a
rapidly changing future marine environment.

KEY WORDS: Climate change · CO2 · Ocean acidification · Temperature · Stratification · Nutrient
limitation · HAB · Algal toxins · Phycotoxins

Ocean acidification will cost us dearly

By ANDREW SHARPLESS

Enjoy serving shrimp, oysters or crabs during your holiday meals? Then you should pay heed to the big climate change meeting coming up in Copenhagen. What nations decide there could determine if our ocean will continue providing tasty shellfish - or instead become part of a perilous chemistry experiment that could ravage valuable fisheries and coral reefs.

The problem, strange as it may seem, is that the ocean is doing a wonderful job of slowing down global warming. Every day, it removes nearly 30 million metric tons of carbon dioxide - the main warming gas - from the atmosphere. That's nearly twice what U.S. power plants, cars and factories spew daily into the sky. So we owe the ocean a big thanks for putting a brake on climate change and giving us time to find solutions.

http://www.bradenton.com/living/living_green/story/1882392.html

World must cut CO2 to India levels - David King, UK

http://renewenergy.wordpress.com/2008/05/29/world-must-cut-co2-to-india-levels-top-scientist/

World must cut CO2 to India levels: top scientist

2008-05-29 by renewenergy

Rich nations need to cut per-capita greenhouse gas emissions to India’s current levels by mid-century to avoid devastating climate change, Britain’s former chief scientific adviser said on Wednesday.

Global carbon dioxide (CO2) levels from burning fossil fuels were already rising quickly and rich nations needed to quickly figure out how to maintain economic growth while committing to deep cuts in emissions, said David King.

“If you (don’t want) run-away climate change, you need to be at about 350 parts per million (ppm) of CO2 … We’re currently at 387 ppm CO2, going up at 2 per annum,” said King, director at Oxford University’s Smith School of Enterprise and Environment.

Carbon dioxide (CO2) is the most common greenhouse gas, and atmospheric levels are sometimes measured as CO2 in parts per million. Collectively, all greenhouse gases can also be expressed as CO2 equivalent (CO2e).

King said that maintaining atmospheric CO2 levels at 450 ppm risked a 20 percent chance of global temperatures rising nearly 4 degrees Celsius.

“If you include all greenhouse gases, we’re at around 420 ppm CO2e,” he said, speaking at a climate change workshop hosted by Thomson Reuters in London.

He said Europe needed to reduce its annual per-capita emissions by 80 percent, or from 11 tons of CO2e, to India’s current level of 2.2 tons per person by 2050.

The United States, emitting an average of 27 tons of CO2e per person every year, also needs to fall to these levels if the world is to avoid a dramatic rise in temperatures, he said.

“I think that encapsulates the challenge, to move from where we are now to where the Indians are today, while growing the global economy at the same time,” said King.

RISKING DISASTER

Failure to do so courted environmental disaster, he said, explaining that melting Arctic sea ice heated up the ocean in the far north much faster because ice reflects a large portion of the sun’s radiation, while open ocean absorbs the sun’s heat.

A rise of several degrees Celsius could also mean the Amazon rainforest drying out, turning it into a big source of carbon dioxide emissions rather than a vast sink for the gas as it is now.

The first round of the U.N.’s Kyoto Protocol, which seeks to cut greenhouse gas emissions from 37 industrialized nations, expires in 2012 and governments are scrambling to agree a successor agreement by the end of 2009 at a U.N. meeting in Copenhagen.

If governments fail to reach consensus, King thinks another solution to climate change might be so-called geo-engineering, which uses technology to deliberately modify the environment and to promote human habitability.

“We need to remove the carbon dioxide, I suspect not from the atmosphere because it’s too expensive … but possibly from the oceans as they are acidifying,” King said.

Oceans absorb large amounts of CO2 but increasing levels of the gas in the atmosphere is causing oceans to become more acidic, threatening the food chain and marine ecosystems such as coral reefs.

Making geo-engineering profitable for the private sector by establishing a market price for carbon dioxide might promote research and development in the new technology.

“I haven’t worked out what the price of carbon dioxide would have to be to encourage companies to start pumping it out of the oceans, but that is the way we need to move forward.”

---------------------------------
Nualgi and Diatom Algae can remove CO2 from the Oceans very easily and economically

SOS: Is Climate Change Suffocating Our Seas?

http://www.redorbit.com/news/science/1767833/sos_is_climate_change_suffocating_our_seas/

SOS: Is Climate Change Suffocating Our Seas?

Posted on: Saturday, 10 October 2009, 08:36 CDT

Scientists work to explain why massive "dead zones" have been invading the Pacific Northwest's near-shore waters since 2002

Yet another ecological scourge may earn a place on the ever-lengthening list of problems potentially caused by climate change: the formation of some so-called "dead zones"—huge expanses of ocean that lose virtually all of their marine life at depth during the summer.

Possible connections between climate change and the relatively recent formation of dead zones in the Pacific Northwest's coastal waters are currently being studied by a research team that is funded by the National Science Foundation and co-led by Jack Barth of Oregon State University (OSU) and Francis Chan of OSU. (Jane Lubchenco, who is currently on leave from OSU while serving as the Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, also previously co-led the team.)

WORLDWIDE DEAD ZONES

The Earth currently has more than 400 oceanic dead zones, with the count doubling every decade. A single dead zone may cover tens of thousands of square miles.

Dead zones form where microscopic plants, known as phytoplankton, are fertilized by excess nutrients, such as fertilizers and sewage, that are generated by human activities and dumped into the ocean by rivers, or more rarely, where they are fertilized by naturally occurring nutrients. The result: blooms of organic matter that ultimately decompose through processes that rob the ocean of life-sustaining oxygen. Animals that fail to flee dead zones either suffocate or suffer severe stress.

--------------------------
The reference to Phytoplankton is not entirely correct - Cyanobacteria and Dinoflagalletes may lead to fall in DO level, but Diatom Algae leads to increase in DO level. They do not die and decompose, they are consumed by zooplankton or fall to the ocean floor.

This distinction is not being made by most people.
The solution is to get the right type of Phytoplankton to bloom - Diatom Algae.

Pacific Ocean 'dead zone' in Northwest may be irreversible

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-oregon-ocean9-2009oct09,0,4615320.story

Pacific Ocean 'dead zone' in Northwest may be irreversible
Oxygen depletion that is killing sea life off Oregon and Washington is probably caused by evolving wind conditions from climate change, rather than pollution, one oceanographer warns.

By Kim Murphy
October 9, 2009

Reporting from Corvallis, Ore. - An oxygen-depleted "dead zone" the size of New Jersey is starving sea life off the coast of Oregon and Washington and will probably appear there each summer as a result of climate change, an Oregon State University researcher said Thursday.

The huge area is one of 400 dead zones around the world, most of them caused by fertilizer and sewage dumped into the oceans in river runoff.

But the dead zone off the Northwest is one of the few in the world -- and possibly the only one in North America -- that could be impossible to reverse. That is because evolving wind conditions likely brought on by a changing climate, rather than pollution, are responsible, said Jack Barth, professor of physical oceanography at OSU.

"I really think we're in a new pattern, a new rhythm, offshore now. And I would expect [the low-oxygen zone] to show up every year now," Barth said at a news conference.

Thursday's briefing coincided with the release of a National Science Foundation multimedia report that said the number of dead zones worldwide was doubling every decade.

In the Pacific Northwest, the report said, the areas of hypoxic, or low-oxygen, water that long have existed far offshore began to appear closer to land in 2002, a phenomenon that may mean they are even deadlier to sea life that exists near the ocean floor.

Low-oxygen zones are created when large blooms of plankton form on the surface of the ocean, then decay and fall to the sea floor, where further decay eats up the oxygen in the water.

"When oxygen gets too low in the ocean, it has a deleterious effect on organisms," Barth said. "They either have to flee the area, or they get stressed or even die off. Those die-off [areas] are dead zones."

The affected waters of the continental shelf in Oregon and Washington for the most part are not inundated with polluted river runoff; the nutrients that feed the plankton blooms here come from natural sources, Barth said. And researchers believe a change in the flushing movement of water along the coastline may be responsible.

The gradual warming of surface waters across the north Pacific, the report funded by the National Science Foundation said, has tended to isolate deep waters far below the surface -- allowing less oxygen penetration.

There also has been a change in wind patterns, encouraging the upwelling of that low-oxygen water and inhibiting the natural flushing action of water.

"What we're seeing is changes in the oxygen content of the water and the winds that drive the ocean and cause that flushing," Barth said, calling it a "double whammy."

Although it is possible that the phenomenon could be related to cyclical ocean currents and temperatures, Barth said that he was more inclined to believe it was a long-term result of climate change. He said that researchers had scanned records going back to the 1950s and had seen nothing similar to what has appeared every year off the Oregon coast since 2002.

The worst year on record was 2006, when the Pacific Northwest zone saw an area of "anoxia," or virtually no oxygen at all.

kim.murphy@latimes.com

Obama task force calls for National Ocean Council

http://www.bayjournal.com/article.cfm?article=3680

Obama task force calls for National Ocean Council

The Obama administration in September released the first glimpse of a plan to strengthen the way the nation manages the oceans, coasts and the Great Lakes.

President Barack Obama's Ocean Policy Task Force-composed of 24 officials from myriad federal agencies- recommended creating a new National Ocean Council with power to coordinate and hold accountable federal agencies in conservation and marine planning efforts.

"Right now (ocean policy) is done on a piecemeal basis, one agency regulating fisheries, one shipping, one water quality, another national security and there's no real mechanized thinking on how sectors interact with each other," said Jane Lubchenco, administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and a task force member. "For the first time, we as a nation say loudly and clearly that healthy oceans matter."

The president created the task force to coordinate the federal response to pollution from industrial and commercial activities, rising sea levels and ocean acidification, among other problems.

The new National Ocean Council would replace the Committee on Ocean Policy, instituted by President George W. Bush in 2004, which the task force called "moderately effective."

The council would help coastal communities-whether it be a struggling fishing industry in Northern California or a hurricane-damaged area on the Gulf Coast-through better coordination and strategic planning.

The report also recommends that the federal government view all ocean policy with a "ecosystem-based approach," meaning decisions would be made with an emphasis on understanding how all life would be affected in a given area. Officials said this would be a key philosophical shift in the nation's approach.

The report is short on details about how and when these goals would be achieved, but environmental groups applauded the White House's efforts, calling it is an important first step in achieving badly needed reform.

A Sea Change - Ocean Acidification

http://www.aseachange.net/

Song for the Ocean

SONG FOR THE OCEAN BY KRISTIN HOFFMANN
one million voices sing for change...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B3qGEWezzl0

http://www.songfortheocean.com/

We are all connected by the Ocean.
Our everyday actions affect the world in which we live, and all creatures sharing our planet.
I wrote “Song for the Ocean,” so that, through singing, we can raise our awareness and get involved in creating positive environmental change.

My goal for the “Song for the Ocean” project is to get a a minimum of 1 million people to join me in singing this song. As we sing, let’s hold the vision of a healthy planet, and make a commitment to the the Earth and all it’s creatures, to be a part of positive change in whatever ways we can. You can sing this song on your own, in a group, a chorus, any way you can imagine. Videotape yourself or a group singing “Song for the Ocean” and upload your video to YouTube...I will add you to my favorites! I am going to keep a list of all people who sing on the song, so e-mail your names, and you can be one of the million voices!

Coral condemned to extinction by CO2 levels, warns Attenborough

Guardian has an interesting article about Coral Reefs

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/jul/07/coral-attenborough

Nualgi can reduce the CO2 levels of the water and increase O2 level.

Ocean Acidification

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7860350.stm

Acid oceans 'need urgent action'

The oceans are thought to have absorbed about half of the extra CO2 put into the atmosphere in the industrial age
This has lowered its pH by 0.1 pH is the measure of acidity and alkalinity
The vast majority of liquids lie between pH 0 (very acidic) and pH 14 (very alkaline); 7 is neutral
Seawater is mildly alkaline with a "natural" pH of about 8.2

The IPCC forecasts that ocean pH will fall by "between 0.14 and 0.35 units over the 21st Century, adding to the present decrease of 0.1 units since pre-industrial times"


Natural lab shows sea's acid path
The world's marine ecosystems risk being severely damaged by ocean acidification unless there are dramatic cuts in CO2 emissions, warn scientists.

More than 150 top marine researchers have voiced their concerns through the "Monaco Declaration", which warns that changes in acidity are accelerating.

The declaration, supported by Prince Albert II of Monaco, builds on findings from an earlier international summit.

It says pH levels are changing 100 times faster than natural variability.

Based on the research priorities identified at The Ocean in a High CO2 World symposium, held in October 2008, the declaration states:

"We scientists who met in Monaco to review what is known about ocean acidification declare that we are deeply concerned by recent, rapid changes in ocean chemistry and their potential, within decades, to severely affect marine organisms, food webs, biodiversity and fisheries."

'The other CO2 problem'

It calls on policymakers to stabilise CO2 emissions "at a safe level to avoid not only dangerous climate change but also dangerous ocean acidification".


Recipe for rescuing our reefs

The researchers warn that ocean acidification, which they refer to as "the other CO2 problem", could make most regions of the ocean inhospitable to coral reefs by 2050, if atmospheric CO2 levels continue to increase.

The also say that it could lead to substantial changes in commercial fish stocks, threatening food security for millions of people.

"The chemistry is so fundamental and changes so rapid and severe that impacts on organisms appear unavoidable," said Dr James Orr, chairman of the symposium.

"The questions are now how bad will it be and how soon will it happen."

Another signatory, Patricio Bernal, executive secretary of the UN Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission, outlined how the marine research community intended to respond to the challenge.

"We need to bring together the best scientists to share their latest research results and to set priorities for research to improve our knowledge of the processes and of the impacts of acidification on marine ecosystems."

Prince Albert II used the declaration to voice his concerns, adding that he hoped the world's leaders would take the "necessary action" at a key UN climate summit later this year.

"I strongly support this declaration. I hope that it will be heard by all the political leaders meeting in Copenhagen in December 2009."

---------------------------
NUALGI can prevent ocean acidification since the bloom of Diatoms it produces would result in absorbtion of large amounts of CO2.

Mesocosm Experiments

Mesocosm Experiments are the right way to test Nualgi.

http://www.noc.soton.ac.uk/soes/staff/tt/eh/mesocosms.html

Mesocosm Experiments to Investigate Phytoplankton Competition

Several years of mesocosm experiments in the Norwegian fjords near Bergen (where Ehux is a common part of the phytoplankton succession) looked at the effects of nutrient and other factors on phytoplankton species composition. In particular, nutrients were added in different amounts and different ratios to different bags, and the resulting phytoplankton species numbers were counted. The mesocosm bags experienced natural temperatures and irradiances (they were suspended in the fjord water). The polyethylene mesocosm bags (90% light transmittance) were 4 metres deep, 2 metres in diameter, and constantly stirred. Each bag was initially filled by pumping in unfiltered fjord water, and so natural communities of zooplankton, bacteria and viruses were introduced at the beginning of each experiment. See (Egge & Hemidal, 1994) for a full description of the experimental set-up.



Many phytoplankton species were present in the bags, but the abundances of just two have been plotted against various parameters, in the diagram shown above. Concentrating solely on Ehux cell numbers, the diagram shows no correlation with nitrate, greater Ehux numbers at low phosphate, and a tendency for blooms to occur at higher temperatures and irradiances. Irradiances are averaged over the previous 5 days. Temperature and light will be highly correlated in the shallow mesocosm bags, and it is thought likely that the correlation with high temperature is probably because Ehux does better at high light, rather than because it competes better at high temperatures.


Ehux home page
http://www.genomics.ceh.ac.uk/mm/Bergen.php

Ocean acidification – why were we experimenting in Norway?


During the Bergen experiment, a blog of our daily activities was kept. This is now closed to further commenting, but a PDF archive of the entries can be downloaded here. The experiment was also mentioned on the CEH news site, and can be seen on both this page and, in more detail, on this one.

The effect of burning fossil fuels
It is well known that we are changing the climate by burning coal and oil. Everyone is aware of the greenhouse effect – increasing carbon dioxide (CO2) in the air is trapping heat in the atmosphere. With a warmer planet, we know that the polar ice caps will shrink, releasing huge amounts of freshwater into the ocean. We expect sea level to rise, causing flooding of coastal areas; we expect the warmer ocean to increase the intensity of storms and hurricanes; we think it is possible (but we are not certain about this) that Northern Europe could get colder in an overall warmer world, because the major oceanic current – the Gulf stream – that brings heat to us, may became weaker or even switch off. There is much to be concerned about as we enter a high CO2 world.

One other feature of high CO2 in the atmosphere is that it makes the oceans more acidic. When CO2 dissolves in seawater, it forms carbonic acid. This is a basic consequence of chemistry – there may be sceptics who doubt that the greenhouse effect will change our climate – but they cannot argue with chemistry. The amounts of CO2 that we are putting into the atmosphere WILL change the oceans and WILL make them more acidic.

Acidity
What do we mean by ‘more acidic’? Well, it will not mean that ships will dissolve in sea water, nor will it fizz like a cola drink. In fact, there will be a relatively small change. We measure acidity or alkalinity with something called pH, which is a measure of hydrogen ion concentration. The pH scale goes from 0 (very, very acid) to 14 (very, very alkaline). The oceans are currently slightly alkaline, with an average pH of about 8.2. How much will the pH change in the future? Within a century, we expect the pH of seawater to be about 7.8 – doesn’t sound much but is actually a huge change. pH is a logarithmic scale; since the beginning of the industrial revolution 200 years ago, CO2 entering the atmosphere and dissolving in the ocean has changed the pH by 0.1 units – but this small number hides a massive increase of about 30% in the hydrogen ion concentration. The important point is that apparently small changes in pH are caused by very large changes in hydrogen ion concentration.

Why does this matter?
The oceans have been slightly alkaline for a very long time. In the geological past, there have been times when oceans have been much more acidic than we predict for the next century but ocean pH has actually been very constant for a very long time – probably for as much as 20 or 25 million years. More important, never in the history of the planet has there been as rapid a change in pH as we are now seeing. We do not know how life in the oceans will adjust to this rapid change.

We already know that some marine creatures may disappear. Corals will not form so readily in a high CO2 world – their hard structures are made from calcium carbonate that is only laid down at current pH; it will dissolve at more acidic pH. Other organisms that are under threat are minute plants called coccolithophores which also have a calcium carbonate shell. These are the organisms that formed chalk (e.g. the white cliffs of Dover) in previous phases of the history of the planet – and are still important today forming vast blooms in the ocean that can be seen from satellites in space. In a high CO2 world, they too will have difficulty in making the calcium carbonate structures that they need.

These are obvious potential problems in a more acidic ocean but we know almost nothing about how the rest of the ocean will respond. We – humans – have only known a stable world. In the million or so years of our existence, mankind has always relied on a productive ocean. We get food from the sea but there are also other essential services that we take for granted. For example, about half of the oxygen that is produced by plants each year comes from the sea. In fact, it was the activity of minute plants in the ocean that first produced oxygen – about 3 billion years ago – that led to favourable conditions for animals to evolve. Today, the oceans are very important in regulating the whole planet – the oceans interact with the atmosphere, the atmosphere with the land to form an interdependency that maintains the whole planet – the Earth system. One of the most significant, yet invisible players in this control mechanism are microbes such as bacteria and phytoplankton.

Life in the ocean
Seawater does not look as though it contains much life. Mostly the water looks clear and blue and empty. There are some obvious plants, such as seaweeds, but they are restricted to a very narrow band around the coasts. However, in the vast majority of the oceans, the plants that produce so much of the oxygen that we need are tiny, microscopic algae called phytoplankton.

Other microbes, such as bacteria are also very abundant. In any litre of seawater, there will an average of one thousand million bacteria. They have a crucial role in maintaining the health of the Earth system. They recycle nutrients that are needed by plants; they breakdown waste organic matter; they degrade harmful compounds. In short, they maintain the planet. How will marine microbes respond to a more acidic ocean? We do not know – which why we are doing this experiment.

What is a mesocosm experiment?
A mesocosm has been defined as “an experimental system that simulates real-life conditions as closely as possible, whilst allowing the manipulation of environmental factors”.Basically, this means “a large enclosure that we can manipulate”.

The mesocosms that we are using in this experiment each contain about 12000 litres of seawater. This is a large enough volume to contain most of the bacteria, plants and animals (except fish) that interact together to form a community. They are also a manageable size that can be manipulated. By bubbling with air enriched with high CO2 (at 750 parts per million – the concentration that will be in the atmosphere in the year 2100 at the current rate of coal and oil burning), we have reduced the pH to 7.8 in just 3 days.

We can now begin to investigate how ocean acidification will affect microbial life in the seas. Will everything be the same as at current pH levels? In which case, we have little to worry about. Will undesirable phytoplankton and bacteria find the new conditions to their liking? In which case, how will that affect the future of the oceans? We do not have answers to these questions. But this experiment will begin to give us some clues about the future of the oceans in a high CO2 world.


Nualgi can reduce ocean acidification.