A U.N. report, due to be published today, will state there is conclusive proof that emissions of carbon dioxide from the industrialized world are turning the oceans more acidic, according to the BBC which claims to have seen a copy. The report warns that a mass extinction of sea life may be under way.
A massive 24 million metric tons (MT) of carbon dioxide produced by industrial practices are absorbed by the seas every day, says Roger Harrabin for the BBC’s Newsnight program. The gas dissolves into the water forming carbonic acid.
The BBC sent Harrabin, its environment analyst, to join an international research vessel on an expedition to Normanby Island on the far tip of Papua New Guinea to study the effects of carbon dioxide on the ocean. According to Harrabin, streams of volcanic carbon dioxide bubbles emerge from deep under the seabed there, “like a giant jacuzzi.” Their acidity is inarguably harming the local sea life, he said.
“Only tough old boulder corals can survive here. The beautiful branching corals can’t cope. It’s a huge loss because the branching corals play a vital role in the reef ecosystem, protecting the young fish needed to help feed a hungry world population.”
Research at the volcanic vents shows that between 30 to 50 percent of coral types won’t be able to cope with the carbon dioxide levels expected for the world’s oceans this century…
View the full article at SeafoodSource.com
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