Even with rapid emission cuts, some level of continued acidification may be unavoidable due to the CO2 already emitted and the time it takes for the ocean system to respond.
Scientists project 70 to 90 percent of coral reefs will disappear over the next 20 years as a result of climate change and pollution. What's more, rising sea surface temperatures and acidic waters could eliminate nearly all existing coral reef habitats by 2100.
Waters off the California coast are acidifying twice as fast as the global average, scientists found, threatening major fisheries and sounding the alarm that the ocean can absorb only so much more of the world’s carbon emissions.
"Our so-called civilization is using the ocean as its toilet. Unless this changes, and fast, ocean ecosystems are going to continue their rapid collapse", says Cameron.
Ocean acidification will severely impair coral reef growth before the end of the century if carbon dioxide emissions continue unchecked.
Ocean acidification is spreading rapidly in the western Arctic Ocean in both area and depth, according to new interdisciplinary research reported in Nature Climate Change by a team of international collaborators.
