Does Ocean Acidification Even Matter?

Abstract

The chemistry of the ocean is changing ten times faster than at any other time during the past 50 million years and at least 100 times faster than at any other time in the last 20 million years. By the year 2200, under a business-as-usual scenario for fossil-fuel consumption, the increasing acidity of seawater could have serious impacts on coral reefs and associated ecosystems presumably with ripple effects throughout the food chain. It can be anticipated that such changes will affect all the other services that seas and oceans provide. That, of course, will have profound effects on coastal economies (fisheries, tourism, biodiversity and so on). The reader is taken through the issues and briefed on the need for robust global dialogue and political processes.