IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/vrs/quageo/v38y2019i3p59-66n6.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The hoax of ocean acidification

Author

Listed:
  • Ollier Clifford

    (The University of Western Australia, Perth, Australia)

Abstract

A widespread alarm is sweeping the world at present about the ill effects of man-made increases in carbon dioxide (CO2) production. One aspect is that it may cause the ocean to become acid, and dissolve the carbonate skeletons of many living things including shellfish and corals. However, the oceans are not acid, never have been in geological history, and cannot become acid in the future. Changes in atmospheric CO2 cannot produce an acid ocean. Marine life depends on CO2, and some plants and animals fix it as limestone. Over geological time enormous amounts of CO2 have been sequestered by living things, and today there is far more CO2 in limestones than in the atmosphere or ocean. Carbon dioxide in seawater does not dissolve coral reefs, but is essential to their survival.

Suggested Citation

  • Ollier Clifford, 2019. "The hoax of ocean acidification," Quaestiones Geographicae, Sciendo, vol. 38(3), pages 59-66, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:vrs:quageo:v:38:y:2019:i:3:p:59-66:n:6
    DOI: 10.2478/quageo-2019-0029
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.2478/quageo-2019-0029
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.2478/quageo-2019-0029?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Ken Caldeira & Michael E. Wickett, 2003. "Anthropogenic carbon and ocean pH," Nature, Nature, vol. 425(6956), pages 365-365, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Bourret, A. & Martin, Y. & Troussellier, M., 2007. "Modelling the response of microbial food web to an increase of atmospheric CO2 partial pressure in a marine Mediterranean coastal ecosystem (Brusc Lagoon, France)," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 208(2), pages 189-204.
    2. Malone, Thomas C. & DiGiacomo, Paul M. & Gonçalves, Emanuel & Knap, Anthony H. & Talaue-McManus, Liana & de Mora, Stephen, 2014. "A global ocean observing system framework for sustainable development," Marine Policy, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 262-272.
    3. Simen Alexander Linge Johnsen & Jörg Bollmann, 2020. "Coccolith mass and morphology of different Emiliania huxleyi morphotypes: A critical examination using Canary Islands material," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 15(3), pages 1-29, March.
    4. Rau, Greg H. & Knauss, Kevin G. & Langer, William H. & Caldeira, Ken, 2007. "Reducing energy-related CO2 emissions using accelerated weathering of limestone," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 32(8), pages 1471-1477.
    5. Daiju Narita & Katrin Rehdanz & Richard Tol, 2012. "Economic costs of ocean acidification: a look into the impacts on global shellfish production," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 113(3), pages 1049-1063, August.
    6. Alva-Basurto, Jorge Christian & Arias-González, Jesús Ernesto, 2014. "Modelling the effects of climate change on a Caribbean coral reef food web," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 289(C), pages 1-14.
    7. Choi, Jun-Ki & Friley, Paul & Alfstad, Thomas, 2012. "Implications of energy policy on a product system's dynamic life-cycle environmental impact: Survey and model," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 16(7), pages 4744-4752.
    8. Narita, Daiju & Rehdanz, Katrin & Tol, Richard S. J., 2011. "Economic Costs of Ocean Acidification: A Look into the Impacts on Shellfish Production," Papers WP391, Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI).
    9. Tayo Alex Adekiya & Raphael Taiwo Aruleba & Babatunji Emmanuel Oyinloye & Kazeem Oare Okosun & Abidemi Paul Kappo, 2019. "The Effect of Climate Change and the Snail-Schistosome Cycle in Transmission and Bio-Control of Schistosomiasis in Sub-Saharan Africa," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(1), pages 1-22, December.
    10. Chang K. Seung & Michael G. Dalton & André E. Punt & Dusanka Poljak & Robert Foy, 2015. "Economic Impacts Of Changes In An Alaska Crab Fishery From Ocean Acidification," Climate Change Economics (CCE), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 6(04), pages 1-35, November.
    11. Henrique Cabral & Vanessa Fonseca & Tânia Sousa & Miguel Costa Leal, 2019. "Synergistic Effects of Climate Change and Marine Pollution: An Overlooked Interaction in Coastal and Estuarine Areas," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(15), pages 1-17, July.
    12. Jie Zhou & Yanling Zheng & Lijun Hou & Zhirui An & Feiyang Chen & Bolin Liu & Li Wu & Lin Qi & Hongpo Dong & Ping Han & Guoyu Yin & Xia Liang & Yi Yang & Xiaofei Li & Dengzhou Gao & Ye Li & Zhanfei Li, 2023. "Effects of acidification on nitrification and associated nitrous oxide emission in estuarine and coastal waters," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-13, December.
    13. Reid S. Brennan & James A. deMayo & Hans G. Dam & Michael B. Finiguerra & Hannes Baumann & Melissa H. Pespeni, 2022. "Loss of transcriptional plasticity but sustained adaptive capacity after adaptation to global change conditions in a marine copepod," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-13, December.
    14. Punt, André E. & Poljak, Dusanka & Dalton, Michael G. & Foy, Robert J., 2014. "Evaluating the impact of ocean acidification on fishery yields and profits: The example of red king crab in Bristol Bay," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 285(C), pages 39-53.
    15. Tai, Travis C. & Harley, Christopher D.G. & Cheung, William W.L., 2018. "Comparing model parameterizations of the biophysical impacts of ocean acidification to identify limitations and uncertainties," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 385(C), pages 1-11.
    16. Nehdi, Moncef L. & Marani, Afshin & Zhang, Lei, 2024. "Is net-zero feasible: Systematic review of cement and concrete decarbonization technologies," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 191(C).
    17. Trevor Hancock, 2019. "Beyond Science and Technology: Creating Planetary Health Needs Not Just ‘Head Stuff’, but Social Engagement and ‘Heart, Gut and Spirit’ Stuff," Challenges, MDPI, vol. 10(1), pages 1-28, June.
    18. Detlef Vuuren & Elke Stehfest, 2013. "If climate action becomes urgent: the importance of response times for various climate strategies," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 121(3), pages 473-486, December.
    19. Pearce, Joshua M. & Johnson, Sara J. & Grant, Gabriel B., 2007. "3D-mapping optimization of embodied energy of transportation," Resources, Conservation & Recycling, Elsevier, vol. 51(2), pages 435-453.
    20. J Timothy Wootton & Catherine A Pfister, 2012. "Carbon System Measurements and Potential Climatic Drivers at a Site of Rapidly Declining Ocean pH," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 7(12), pages 1-11, December.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ocean; acidification; coral; limestone; pH;
    All these keywords.

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:vrs:quageo:v:38:y:2019:i:3:p:59-66:n:6. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Peter Golla (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.sciendo.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.