Is Global Warming Cooking an Acidic Sea Urchin Soup?

Mon, Aug 4, 2008

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It’s no secret that we’re all doomed but now scientists have found that the underwater world isn’t having such a rad time either.

sea urchins is rising acidic waters
Image by: jurvetson

Since the sea sequesters carbon dioxide from the Earth’s atmosphere its pH levels are rising. This means sea animals whose shells or skeletons are made of calcium carbonate are literally dissolving due to the increased acidity in the water, and in some cases failing to reproduce.

A couple of Swedish researchers from the University of Gothenburg, Jon Havenhand and Michael Thorndyke, say that this acidification process of the oceans affects the sea urchin, especially.

“A 25 percent drop in fertility is the equivalent of a 25 percent drop in the reproductive population. It remains to be seen whether other species exhibit the same effect, but, translated to commercially and ecologically important species such as lobsters, crabs, mussels and fish, acidification would have far reaching consequences,” says Jon Havenhand.

Scientists think the damage will be irreversible by 2100…eeep I hope not!

Source 1, 2

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carbon emissions, global warming, marine biology, overfishing, rising acidity sea water

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This post was written by:

Linda McCormick - who has written 175 posts on Environmental Graffiti.

Linda is a writer and editor, currently based in London. Growing up in N Ireland, she craved sunnier climes so set off around the world, forever chasing the sun. On her travels she discovered she was much more passionate about the environment than she realised – although never quite got the whole tree-hugging thing – and has always had a penchant for the unconventional and creative side of life, so working at Environmental Graffiti suits her just fine.

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Swati Paul Says:
August 6th, 2008 at 5:43 am
Dear Linda,
I appreciate your effort in writing this post. Indeed we all must think about the rising oceanic adcidity. The fact that marine ecosysytems are very different from the ones found above water, generally they are not shown in the picture. And now when the damage is already done, then too one finds that as compared to media attention given to effects of climate change and global warming on land that gicen to under-sea is really less.I distressed to imagine what a world it would be without those beautiful urchins, corals and other diverse marine life…

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