Like what you've read?

On Line Opinion is the only Australian site where you get all sides of the story. We don't
charge, but we need your support. Here�s how you can help.

  • Advertise

    We have a monthly audience of 70,000 and advertising packages from $200 a month.

  • Volunteer

    We always need commissioning editors and sub-editors.

  • Contribute

    Got something to say? Submit an essay.


 The National Forum   Donate   Your Account   On Line Opinion   Forum   Blogs   Polling   About   
On Line Opinion logo ON LINE OPINION - Australia's e-journal of social and political debate

Subscribe!
Subscribe





On Line Opinion is a not-for-profit publication and relies on the generosity of its sponsors, editors and contributors. If you would like to help, contact us.
___________

Syndicate
RSS/XML


RSS 2.0

Oceans in peril

By Julian Cribb - posted Thursday, 1 March 2007


Another peril is acidification, which could devastate ocean life with planet-wide consequences. The buildup of CO2 in the atmosphere produces acid rain which, as we have long known, affects the pH of lakes. As the 750 gigatonnes of carbon in the atmosphere grows it could reduce ocean pH from 8 to 7.4 or lower. There are signs this is now happening.

Acid seas would have a devastating effect not only on corals and shellfish, which would be unable to build their calcareous skeletons, but also on plankton, the earth’s most numerous and important lifeforms.

In Plankton: a critical creation, Professor Gustaaf Hallegraeff of the University of Tasmania depicts plankton as the planet’s main microbial engine. Plankton produce much of the oxygen we breath; they capture and lock up half the world’s CO2; they influence global climate by producing clouds and scattering sunlight; they are the base of the planetary food web. Many plankton have chalky skeletons which could not form in an acid sea.

Advertisement

Australia, as suzerain of the world’s largest and most diverse Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) has a direct stake in understanding these processes, how to manage them and prevent their collapse. Indeed half our territory is water. The scale of the current scientific effort devoted to understanding so vast a realm is but a drop in the ocean of what it ought to be. Indeed it borders on an act of national irresponsibility and indifference.

If we hope that our oceans will sustain us in the future, we must sustain them in the present. But we need the science to do so.

  1. Pages:
  2. 1
  3. Page 2
  4. All

First published in Australian R&D Review on February 28, 2007 and in The Australian on February 28, 2007. It is republished in collaboration with ScienceAlert, the only news website dedicated to Australasian science.



Discuss in our Forums

See what other readers are saying about this article!

Click here to read & post comments.

32 posts so far.

Share this:
reddit this reddit thisbookmark with del.icio.us Del.icio.usdigg thisseed newsvineSeed NewsvineStumbleUpon StumbleUponsubmit to propellerkwoff it

About the Author

Julian Cribb is a science communicator and author of The Coming Famine: the global food crisis and what we can do to avoid it. He is a member of On Line Opinion's Editorial Advisory Board.

Other articles by this Author

All articles by Julian Cribb

Creative Commons LicenseThis work is licensed under a Creative Commons License.

Photo of Julian Cribb
Article Tools
Comment 32 comments
Print Printable version
Subscribe Subscribe
Email Email a friend
Advertisement

About Us Search Discuss Feedback Legals Privacy