[env-trinity] Santa Cruz Sentinel: West Coast scientists urge immediate action to combat ocean acidification

[Sari Sommarstrom]

http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/environment-and-nature/20160407/west-coast-
scientists-urge-immediate-action-to-combat-ocean-acidification

West Coast scientists urge immediate action to combat ocean acidification

By
<http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/environment-and-nature/20160407/west-coast
-scientists-urge-immediate-action-to-combat-ocean-acidification#author1>
Samantha Clark, Santa Cruz Sentinel 

Posted: 04/07/16, 7:56 PM PDT | 

SANTA CRUZ >> A group of scientists is warning that waters off the West
Coast are quickly becoming more acidic. In a new
<http://westcoastoah.org/executivesummary/> report out this week from the
West Coast Ocean Acidification and Hypoxia Science Panel, they urge swift
and coordinated action in the region, which is among the hardest hit by the
global problem.

The ocean is absorbing increasing amounts of carbon dioxide from the
atmosphere to such a degree that it's throwing the chemical balance of
seawater out of whack and in turn threatening marine ecosystems and posing
severe economic consequences.

While ocean acidification and the related problem of hypoxia - when there's
a depleted amount of oxygen in the water - are worldwide problems, the panel
of 20 scientists says it's important to fight them on the home front as
well. 

"The goal of this document is to provide a road map for managers on things
that they can do now to address the issue of ocean acidification," said
Alexandria, Boehm, panel co-chair and professor of civil and environmental
engineering at Stanford University.

Because of how the Pacific Ocean circulates, the West Coast is exposed
disproportionately to water with higher acidity levels.

Already shellfish, corals and other organisms are having a harder time
reproducing and growing their skeletons and outer protective shells. As a
result, the West Coast shellfish industry is seeing high mortality rates
during the early life stages when shell formation is important. 

And increased acidity has shown to give rise to harmful algae blooms in the
lab. The toxins can cause sickness and even death up the food chain as
contaminated fish and shellfish are consumed by larger fish, marine mammals
and even people. 

"Ocean acidification is very alarming if you look at what's going to happen
to the ocean's pH if we don't reduce carbon emissions," Boehm said.

In the report, the panel makes calls for action that are coordinated and
collaborative between ocean management and natural resource agencies. Its
recommendations include exploring the use of sea grass to remove carbon
dioxide from seawater, reducing land-based pollution from entering coastal
waters and revising water-quality criteria.

In addition, the panel suggests policymakers create a West Coast monitoring
program for gathering more data and create a scientific task force to help
management stay effective.

"They make some really tangible recommendations that science suggests could
have an impact," said Kristy Kroeker, an expert on ocean acidification and
assistant professor at UC Santa Cruz who is not part of the panel. "The West
Coast and the Monterey Bay are really sitting in a hot spot for
acidification. It's happening here twice as fast as it's happening in the
rest of the world. Understanding the problem and things we can do is really
critical for our community." To read the report, go to
<http://westcoastoah.org/executivesummary>
westcoastoah.org/executivesummary.

 

 

West Coast Ocean Acidification and Hypoxia Science Panel report

http://westcoastoah.org/executivesummary/

 

http://westcoastoah.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/OAH-Panel-Ecosystems-3.30
.16-FINAL.pdf

 

Summary

Ocean acidification and hypoxia (OAH) together are changing the chemistry of
the world's

oceans. Despite good evidence of species-level effects of OAH, we have
little resolution regarding

the scale and magnitude of ecosystem-level effects. Yet, such ecosystem
effects are likely to

significantly affect economically and culturally important resources, and
the services and benefits

that marine ecosystems provide to society. Focusing on the West Coast of
North America, we first

ask how insights gained from the past decade of research can inform and
bound our predictions

of the direction and magnitude of the ecosystem changes ahead. Although
abrupt and significant

ecosystem changes can reasonably be expected, predicting the timing of these
changes (e.g.,

1, 5, 10 years) and how they will manifest is challenging. We then propose
that sustaining

ecological resilience through the use of ecosystem approaches that are
already embedded

in natural resource management frameworks provides a pragmatic path forward
and offers

opportunities for decision-makers to take action now to address OAH. We
illustrate this approach

with three case studies from the U.S. West Coast: marine protected areas,
ecosystem-based

fi sheries management, and coastal EBM initiatives. Such actions can
potentially ameliorate OAH

effects over the near-term and forestall abrupt ecosystem changes, "buying
time" as scientific

understanding and management options improve.

 

 

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://www2.dcn.org/pipermail/env-trinity/attachments/20160408/e1ca4436/attachment.html>