Is there still time to save the seas?

The ocean is acidifying and coral reefs are dying. And it will only get worse until we rein in our emissions.

[BB-films note: from time to time I think it's worth stepping back and thinking about how we are amongst the last generation of divers that are going to be able to enjoy the World's oceans as they are today. Given the predictably pathetic lack of global consensus and infantile bickering over agreed effective combined actions at the UN summit in Copenhagen, the sad but true answer is that it is now (and perhaps has been for some time) too late to avoid widespread and permanent catastrophic changes to the World's oceans and seas. What's left for us now is to dive them, enjoy them, document them and teach our grandchildren about our experiences of a natural wonder that they can no longer enjoy, in part, thanks to us. The upside is that the faster we speed our impending extinction, the faster the planet can get back to equilibrium and the next cycle of life can begin.]

The glistening back of a whale sends ripples across the surface of the Arctic Ocean. Terns wheel overhead, while in the crisp, clear water beneath, tiny translucent sea snails flap their feet like butterfly wings against a shimmering backdrop of fish. The ocean is boundless, timeless and about as far away from Man as it’s possible to get. But not far enough.

The waters of the Arctic are changing faster than anywhere else on the planet. Glaciers are melting ever quicker and the sea ice is retreating, but these are only the physical effects of the fumes pouring from humanity’s smokestack. Our emissions are shifting the ocean’s chemistry too, and the combination is shaking the very foundations of its biology.

Just as ocean currents encircle the world, so too will these transformations. By mid-century the reefs shielding the Maldives will be eroding faster than they can grow. And out beyond the reefs’ ash-grey remains, a still more sinister threat will be reaching up from the depths.

Standing on a clifftop gazing out at the wild sea, it’s easy to feel the ocean’s power to recharge. Marine life is at once the lungs and the kidneys of the planet, providing half its oxygen, recycling its nutrients and absorbing its waste. Take a deep breath of that fresh sea air, and your chest swells with the scent of ocean life.

If the UN summit in Copenhagen ends with more half-hearted commitments, come the middle of the century you — and the other 80 per cent of the world’s population who live within 100km of the coast — had better think twice before drinking in that sea breeze. The characteristic scent is the product of microscopic, surface-dwelling plankton, but rival species are on the rise. A lungful of their fragrance leaves not the feeling of freedom but toxic irritation.

From The Times Online.
Full Article here.