item 289
[22-07-2010 to 31-08-2010]
News Item:
UK science spotlights ocean acidification
The UK’s first research programme to investigate the impacts of ocean
acidification has been launched involving 101 scientists from 21 of the UK’s
top scientific institutions. The UK Ocean Acidification Research Programme
consists of several projects working together to investigate different aspects
of this global issue.
The world’s seas are absorbing high levels of carbon dioxide (CO
2)
mainly produced by human activities, such as fossil fuel burning. The absorbed
CO
2 fundamentally changes the chemistry of oceans, which results in
a rise in ocean acidity. Since the
start of the Industrial Revolution ocean acidity has risen by about 30%. Ocean
acidification is estimated to be currently occurring at a rate faster than has
been experienced during the last 20 million years. If CO
2 emissions
continue to rise and the acidity of the World’s oceans and seas continues to
increase at this rate this could have serious consequences for important cycles
that drive the climate as well as marine life (e.g. corals, shellfish, algae
and the plankton that form the base of the food chain) within this century.
Such impacts could reach far beyond the marine environment, to that of climate,
food provision and human health and well-being.
Richard Benyon, Parliamentary
Under-Secretary for Natural Environment and Fisheries, said: “The effects of climate change on
land have been well documented yet we are only just beginning to explore the
damage that rising CO
2 levels could have on our marine ecosystems.”
“The UK is the world leader in
marine science and it is projects such as this that will help us understand the
effects of ocean acidification on the world’s seas and oceans. This research
programme is vital to help us meet the challenges ocean acidification
presents.”
The need for more knowledge about ocean acidification and how it will
impact upon the oceans environmentally, socially and economically is recognised
as a key issue, and the six new projects have been designed to answer some of
the most pressing questions. They are funded by the Natural Environment
Research Council (NERC), the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
(Defra) and the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) under the
auspices of the Living with Environmental Change partnership.
Six research projects have now been funded, each delivering a key part
of the £12 million UK Ocean Acidification Research Programme, designed to
answer the following questions:
- How
much variability is there in oceanic CO2 uptake and what are
the trends for the future? Led by
Professor Andrew Watson, University of East Anglia.
- What
are the impacts of ocean acidification on key benthic (seabed) ecosystems,
communities, habitats, species and their life cycles? Led by Dr Stephen Widdicombe, Plymouth
Marine Laboratory
- How
will ocean acidification affect the biology of surface ocean communities
and biogeochemistry, and how that might feedback to climate? Led by Dr Toby Tyrrell, National
Oceanography Centre
- What
are the potential impacts of ocean acidification on the ocean and how it
might amplify rising CO2 and climate change? Led by Dr Andy Ridgwell, University of
Bristol
- How
will ocean acidification impact ecosystems and chemical cycling in UK and
Arctic regional seas? Led by Dr
Jerry Blackford, Plymouth Marine Laboratory
- What were
the effects of rapid ocean acidification events in the Earth’s past? Led by Professor Paul Pearson, Cardiff University
These projects are supported by a
national analytical facility led by Professor Eric Achterberg, National
Oceanography Centre.
St Andrews University will be involved in the
project that aims to investigate the impacts of ocean acidification on key
benthic ecosytems, communities, habitats, species and their life cycles. One of
the communities to be investigated will be microalgal biofilms, which play a
very important role in the ecology of sediment systems. Professor David
Paterson and Dr Emma Defew from the Sediment Ecology Research Group, based at
the Scottish Oceans Institute, will be involved in quantifying the response of
sediment microalgal assemblages to elevated carbon dioxide and temperature
regimes. We will build on the understanding generated from the experimental
studies to predict the impacts of ocean acidification and warming on the
functioning of sediment microalgal communities. These investigations will be
conducted as collaborative experiments with the Scottish Association of Marine
Science (SAMS) using recirculating flume channels
. NERC Chief Executive, Professor Alan
Thorpe, said
“Ocean acidification is an
important scientific priority in NERC’s Strategy as well as in the recently
published UK Marine Science Strategy. I am very pleased that we have been able
to address this critical science and policy issue with Defra and DECC, as part
of the Living with Environmental Change programme. This initiative, one of the
first to be funded by any nation, ensures that the UK will remain at the
forefront of ocean acidification research.”
Professor Robert Watson, Defra’s
Chief Science Adviser, commented:
"Ocean acidification may be
a relatively recently identified phenomenon but its potential impact is likely
to have wide ramifications through the ocean. We need to understand how much of
a problem it might be, how quickly we will start to feel its effects and how we
might mitigate any impacts. The UK has been at the forefront of ocean
acidification research and this Programme will ensure the excellent work
continues. By following a multi-disciplinary approach, looking at a range of
aspects of ocean acidification, we can bring together scientists across
disciplines in order to gain as complete a picture of how the ocean will react
to increasing acidity and how its diverse life forms will cope or adapt in the
future."
see here for further details