‘Evil twin’ threatens world oceans, scientists warn:
The rise in human emissions of carbon dioxide is driving fundamental and dangerous changes in the chemistry and ecosystems of the world’s oceans, international marine scientists warned today.
“Ocean conditions are already more extreme than those experienced by marine organisms and ecosystems for millions of years,” the researchers say in the latest issue of the journal Trends in Ecology and Evolution (TREE).
“This emphasises the urgent need to adopt policies that drastically reduce CO2 emissions.”
Ocean acidification, which the researchers call the ‘evil twin of global warming’, is caused when the CO2 emitted by human activity, mainly burning fossil fuels, dissolves into the oceans. It is happening independently of, but in combination with, global warming.
“Evidence gathered by scientists around the world over the last few years suggests that ocean acidification could represent an equal – or perhaps even greater threat – to the biology of our planet than global warming,” co-author Professor Ove Hoegh-Guldberg of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies and the Global Change Institute at The University of Queensland said.
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The scientists say there is now persuasive evidence that mass extinctions in past Earth history, like the “Great Dying” of 251 million years ago and another wipeout 55 million years ago, were accompanied by ocean acidification, which may have delivered the deathblow to many species that were unable to adapt.
“These past periods can serve as great lessons of what we can expect in the future, if we continue to push the acidity the ocean even further,” said the lead author, Dr Carles Pelejero, from ICREA (Catalan Institute for Research and Advanced Studies) and the Marine Science Institute of CSIC (Spanish National Research Council) in Barcelona, Spain.
“Given the impacts we see in the fossil record, there is no question about the need to immediately reduce the rate at which we are emitting carbon dioxide in the atmosphere,” he said.
The prior events referenced above are the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (55.8 million years ago) and the Permian-Triassic extinction event (251.4 million years ago). If you have a few minutes and don’t mind being scared spitless, I highly recommend clicking through to those two Wikipedia links.
Study warns of ocean acidification effects:
British researchers say ocean acidification, the result of increasing levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide, could significantly affect marine ecosystems.
Newcastle University scientists say they performed experiments in which they simulated ocean acidification and found the decrease in ocean pH (increased acidity) resulted in a sharp decline of a biogeochemically important group of bacteria known as the Marine Roseobacter clade.
New mathematical model helps biologists understand how coral dies in warming waters:
Cornell University researchers have found a new tool to help marine biologists better grasp the processes under the sea: They have created mathematical models to unveil the bacterial community dynamics behind afflictions that bleach and kill coral.
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“Before this study, we just had observations but little understanding of the mechanism” for what causes coral disease and bleaching, said Laura Jones, Cornell senior research associate in ecology and evolutionary biology. Justin Mao-Jones ’08, conducted the research as an undergraduate in the School of Operations Research and Information Engineering, is the paper’s lead author.
The model reveals how a healthy normal microbial community in the coral surface mucus layer protects corals from disease by preventing invasion and overgrowth by pathogenic bacteria. But when corals are stressed, for example by elevated temperatures (a heat spell), the community of microbes suddenly switches. Species associated with a healthy coral organism — “resident species” — decline as pathogens associated with coral disease take their place.
The researchers used models to simulate bacterial community dynamics within the surface coral mucus, under normal conditions, and under the warming conditions that lead to a sudden shift from beneficial bacteria to pathogens on the coral’s surface.
India and Pakistan Duke It Out Over Water At Annual Meeting:
Every year, India and Pakistan sit down to talk about and decide on water use from the shared Indus basin. But as we know, the water use in India is skyrocketing while the availability is quickly diminishing. In fact, violence over access to clean water in residential areas is already making news. At this year’s meeting, set to run until tomorrow, the two countries are at odds over use of the basin.
Edie reports that India is planning to build two new hydro power plants on the River Sindh, which Pakistan isn’t too keen about, yet India rejected five of Pakistan’s formal objections about the plants. According to Pakistani authorities, the damming required for the plants would mean blocking over 43 million cubic meters of water – a huge amount of a precious resource. Yet, for a country with a fast-growing economy and population as India is experiencing, it’s no wonder they want to plow forward with plans for hydro-electric power plants.
In addition, Pakistan has asked India for open reporting on its plans to use water from the shared basin for agriculture. It seems a reasonable request – and actually one that should be done globally. Water use for agricultural purposes comprises a huge percentage of water consumption, and open reporting by all countries and businesses could lead to much smarter and more effective water regulations and usage.
Of all the “potential trouble spots” in the world, India/Pakistan worries me the most, thanks to their history, the growing competition for water, and the fact that they both have nuclear weapons.
Drought may force power station to halt operation:
The worsening drought in southwest China could force the Longtan hydropower station, the country’s second largest in operation, to halt power generation in another month, a company official said Tuesday.
The water level in the upper reservoir had been falling by 20 cm per day, said Chen Deqing, deputy chief of the hydropower station.
Chen said should the water level keep falling at the current speed, the power station would have to halt generation in about a month.
The plant generated 30 percent less electricity in 2009 than in normal years and 59 percent less in the first quarter of 2010 than in the same period last year.
Last year, it generated 13 billion kWh of electricity, which was mainly supplied to Guangxi and neighboring Guangdong province.
The worst drought in a century has affected 61.3 million people and 5 million hectares of crops in Guizhou, Yunnan, Sichuan, Chongqing, and Guangxi, the Ministry of Civil Affairs said last week.
The dry weather has also left 18 million residents and 11.7 million head of livestock thirsty for water and caused direct economic losses of 23.7 billion yuan ($3.5 billion).
The energy water nexus isn’t just an abstract concept with an overly wonky name; it’s a nasty reality that many population centers around the world will have to deal with, one way or another, for several decades, at a bare minimum.
