Green Options

The researchers further warn that increasing temperatures in this vital, globally-extended ecosystem could “reduce the transfer of primary produced organic matter to higher trophic levels” (e.g., such as those that sustain corals and the many species that use them as habitat), interfere with the global carbon pump, and possibly set up a positive feedback mechanism, further increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide.

So-called “dead zones”–patches of ocean lacking aerobic (oxygen breathing) life–will most likely increase due to a rise in carbon dioxide (CO2) concentrations.

Because of CO2 build up in the atmosphere, its level of concentration in the oceans also increases. There, some of the CO2 converts to a simple acid called carbonic acid. (H2CO3).

What is becoming a much-studied phenomenon in recent years, these dead zones of depleted oxygen (02) - typically found at depths between 300 and 600 meters–are the result of several factors working separately and in combination: lower sea surface 02 levels, less heat exchanging (”ventilation”) with mid-level ocean depths due to over-all warming, and “euthrophication events” (an over-growth of a species due to excess nutrients).

Leading experts at the 2009 Aspen Environment Forum called ocean acidification caused by high levels of CO2 emissions a “planet changer”, and predicted that all coral in the ocean would be in danger of dying off by mid-century if we continued to burn fossil fuel at our current rate.

Ken Caldeira of Carnegie Institution, Martin Hoffert of New York University, and Dawn Martin of SeaWeb told attendees at the session “The Ocean Carbon Cycle: Facing the Damage” that we haven’t taken the issue seriously enough, and expressed dismay at the lack of media coverage for such an important issue.

“People would be more upset if you told them that their favorite TV show was canceled than if you told them that entire biomes would disappear.” - Ken Caldeira, Carnegie Institution