Ocean acidification has been 100 times more rapid in recent decades than natural events over the past 55 million years, highlighted the European Commissioner for Environment, Oceans and Fisheries, Virginijus Sinkevičius, on Tuesday 5 May, based on data and interactive maps published the same day by the European Environment Agency (EEA).
"Acidification is a serious environmental pressure on the oceans, affecting marine ecosystems. We need to step up our efforts to protect marine life," said the Commissioner.
One of the objectives of the UN sustainable development agenda to 2030 is to conserve and sustainably use oceans, seas and marine resources (SDO 14). And one of the targets (SDO 14.3) is to minimize ocean acidification and combat its effects.
According to the EEA, the ocean currently absorbs about a quarter of global CO2 emissions from human activities. This absorption of CO2 causes acidification of the oceans as the pH of the water decreases.
The pH of the ocean surface has fallen from 8.2 to less than 8.1 during the industrial era, due to an increase in atmospheric concentrations of CO2. This decrease corresponds to an increase in ocean acidity of about 30%.
Changes in marine primary production will have an impact on the global carbon cycle and the absorption of CO2 in the ocean and on the capacity of the oceans to mitigate climate change.
The effects of higher ocean temperatures combined with deoxygenation and acidification are expected to adversely affect entire marine ecosystems, cause changes in food chains and marine production, and lead to economic losses. See the documents published by EEA: https://bit.ly/2zf9T8i (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)