[Water_news] 3. DWR'S CALIFORNIA WATER NEWS: WATERSHEDS - 9/23/08

Department of Water Resources

California Water News

A daily compilation of significant news articles and comment

 

September 23, 2008

 

3. Watersheds –

 

 

Acidification harming sea, expert says

Scientists say impact on oceans could be extensive

Ventura County Star – 9/22/08

By Zeke Barlow, staff writer

 

Scientists first believed that because the ocean absorbs about a quarter of the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, it was a good way to soften the blow from global warming.

 

But science is now showing that just like the air, the ocean can be greatly affected by global warming, and perhaps even more in the Santa Barbara Channel than other places around the globe.

 

"We now realize it has serious consequences for our ocean," said Richard Feely, a chemical oceanographer who was part of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which along with Al Gore, won the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize. "It certainly is a problem that has come up quickly over time, but people are beginning to make the connection now."

 

Feely spoke Friday in Santa Barbara to the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary Advisory Council, which voted to start researching, monitoring and educating on the impacts of ocean acidification.

 

Data show that over the last 50 years, as the levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide increased, so did the level of acidity in the oceans, Feely said. The highest concentrations of the acidic water are in the upper level of the water columns, where the majority of the ocean's species live.

 

If nothing is done to curb the amount of carbon dioxide that humans produce — by burning fossil fuels for energy — the impact on the ocean could be vast, he said.

Studies show that a higher acidity level in the ocean affects creatures that have shells — lobster, sea urchins, clams — and can lead to them producing weaker, thinner shells as well as hurt their ability to reproduce.

 

Aside from the obvious impact on fisheries — the California sea urchin fishery, densely concentrated in Ventura and Santa Barbara counties, is valued at about $20 million annually — the effects could travel up the food chain.

 

Salmon, for example, mainly feed on small snails during the wintertime. If the snails are affected, the impact could reach salmon, too, he said. About 20 percent of the protein that people consume worldwide comes from the ocean.

 

A bill is before the Senate to form a national panel to study ocean acidification.

 

"This is an issue that represents food resources for a billion people or more," Feely said.

 

The waters off Ventura and Santa Barbara counties, where a process called "upwelling" brings water from the depths of the sea to the top, could be more affected than other areas because that process would elevate more acidic water to the sea's top layer.

 

Gretchen Hofmann, a professor at UC Santa Barbara who has been studying the impacts of acidification on purple urchins, said early studies don't paint a good picture.

 

She has done laboratory research testing how purple urchins would fare even if carbon dioxide emissions were reduced through the use of better technology. Even under that scenario, the urchins' growth and functions were greatly impacted, she said.

 

However, she said it's possible that other species will learn to be resilient to the change and adapt. Others could just switch feeding habitats or environments.

"I don't think we'll have everything collapse, but this will be difficult," she told the Sanctuary Advisory Council.

 

Bruce Steele, a Santa Barbara sea urchin diver, said the impacts on urchins are just the start. If global warming continues unchecked, he said, there will a lot more to be concerned with than how one fishery does.

 

"The cumulative effect of the decisions of the way we live our lives are going to have ramifications for multiple lifetimes on this planet," he said.#

http://www.venturacountystar.com/news/2008/sep/22/acidification-harming-sea-expert-says/

 

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