Recently, global warming has gained massive attention due to the documentary An Inconvenient Truth presented by former Vice-President of the United States Al Gore. In relation to that, the National Academy of Sciences reported that “gases are accumulating in Earth's atmosphere as a result of human activities, causing surface air temperatures and subsurface ocean temperatures to rise". However, there is another pressing issue in corollary with global warming that must be attended to by world leaders – increasing levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide resulting to ocean acidification. Sponberg expressed his disturbing concern for the issue:
[...] “National Academy of Sciences Committee on the Science of Climate Change, Climate Change Science: An Analysis of Key Questions.” Washington: National Academy Press Bruno, John F., Selig E . Regional Decline of Coral Cover in the Indo- Pacific: Timing, Extent, and Subregional Comparisons Calderia, K., and M. E. Wickett, M.E. (2003) Anthropogenic carbon and ocean pH. Nature 425. 365- 365. Donney, Scott. Dangers of Ocean Acidification.” 29 November 2006. Retrieved at [http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=the-dangers-of-ocean- acid&colID=1] Donney, Scott, Naomi Levine. Long Can the Ocean Slow [...]
[...] We recommend that a major, internationally coordinated effort be launched to include global monitoring, experimental, mesocosm and field studies . The impacts of ocean acidification are additional to, and may exacerbate, the effects of climate change. For this reason, the necessary funding should be additional and must not be diverted from research into climate change. We are all involved in this. We are part of the problem and must become part of the solution as well. WORKS CITED Author Unavailable. [...]
[...] glacial–interglacial CO2 changes13; slow changes over the past 300 Myr; historical changes1 in ocean surface waters; unabated fossil-fuel burning over the next few centuries.( Caldera and Wicket 2003 ) According to Caldera and Wickett, they used a “serious of simulations (where) atmospheric pressure was varied linearly . over time intervals of 10 years”. They concluded that”when a CO2 change occurs over a short time interval (that is, less than about 104 ocean pH is relatively sensitive to added CO2 it was concluded that unabated CO2 emissions over the coming centuries may produce changes in ocean pH that are greater than any experienced in the past 300 Myr, with the possible exception of those resulting from rare, catastrophic events in Earth's history” ( Caldera and Wickett This is indeed a very disturbing conclusion that should make world leaders, ecologists, biologists, and environmentalists prepare for programs that will result in drastic cuts of atmospheric carbon dioxide secretion. [...]
[...] Futhermore, Bruno (2007) clearly pointed out the effect of the acidification to coral reefs up to the Indo-Pacific area: In fact, between 1984 and 1996, coral cover was slightly lower in east Indonesia than on the GBR . absolute coral cover in these subregions declined by between 1996 and 1998, possibly due in part to El Niño- related bleaching. Well-documented mass coral bleaching events driven by elevated seawater temperatures have caused coral mortality throughout the Indo-Pacific, particularly in and The extent of the damage brought by acidification covers the Indo-Pacific Regions and the Pacific Islands. [...]
[...] This paper attempts not to answer completely this question but present the effect of ocean acidification to these countries and establish the importance of local governance. Among the Pacific Islands that would be affected are Papua New Guinea, Melanesia, Micronesia, Vanuatu, Kiribati since they are located in the middle of the sea. Trade is restricted due to geographical limitations and the main source of income is fishing-related. The problem of acidification cannot be simply regarded as scientific or technical alone. [...]
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