Tag Archives: ocean acidification

Atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations reached a new record high in 2013, with carbon dioxide (CO2) levels rising more than in any year since 1984, according to the World Meteorological Association's latest annual Greenhouse Gas Bulletin.

Ocean acidification continues to rise at a rate “unprecedented in Earth’s history,” a direct result of past and current increases in carbon and greenhouse gas emissions, posing significant threats to the health and integrity of marine ecosystems and the diverse range of products and services they provide the world over, according to a report produced by the International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme, UNESCO’s Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission …

New research into past changes in climate indicates that global warming can take place much more suddenly than previously thought – over the course of only about 13 years. Temperatures at high latitudes rose as much as 8ºC (14ºF) and oceans warmed from surface to bottom some 55 million years ago during what’s known as the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM). The rapid rise in …

Land use practices and development, along with climate change and other agents, are taking a toll on fisheries in Hawaii and across the Western Pacific, highlighting an increasingly pressing need for policy makers, regulators and other stakeholders to collaborate in crafting holistic, integrated marine resource management and climate change adaptation strategies, local fishermen said at a meeting of the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council.

Water is synonymous with biological diversity. The UN’s International Day for Biological Diversity (IBD) is celebrated each year on May 22nd, it is designed to increase awareness of biodiversity issues. The theme for IBD 2013 was Water and Biodiversity and its goal was to raise awareness about the mutually reinforcing relationship between water security and biodiversity. From its creation by the Second Committee of …

After three years of ongoing research by an international team of scientists, a study commissioned by the Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme for a first-ever comprehensive assessment of Arctic Ocean acidification was presented last week at a meeting of Arctic Council Ministers in Bergen, Norway. Arctic Ocean Acidification Facts The research show that the cold waters of the Arctic sea are more vulnerable to acidification. Cold …

Mark Lynas is a journalist  climate activist, and author of The God Species: Saving the Planet in the Age of Humans. Speaking at a Long Now Foundation seminar last month, Lynas speaks of the nine planetary boundaries human society now faces as we struggle to find a path for a sustainable future. These boundaries include biodiversity loss,  biosphere and oceanic inputs of nitrogen and phosphorous , ocean …