Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
ocean acidii cation
( Chapter
3 ;
Orr
et al.
2005 ;
Research and Monitoring (FOARAM) Act and the US
projects that will result from it, one might expect the
US contribution to increase in subsequent years.
Steinacher
et al.
2009 ).
1.4.3.5 Modelling papers
The modelling studies have largely focused on glo-
bal models: 62 out of 96 papers used a global model,
against 25 papers using regional models. Only six
studies modelled a community response to ocean
acidii cation. Regional models are important for
estimating the socio-economic consequences and
costs of ocean acidii cation, since these are largely
region-specii c (Cooley
et al.
2009 ).
To conclude, research efforts seem unbalanced in
many aspects, including taxonomic groups, proc-
esses studied, and geographical study sites. For
example, high-latitude areas are under-investigated
although they have been identii ed as the regions
potentially most sensitive to ocean acidii cation.
Other trends include a disproportionately large
research effort on phytoplankton and on the proc-
esses of photosynthesis and calcii cation.
1.4.3.6 Methods used
The majority of the studies on the biological
response and chemistry, reporting new results, were
conducted in the laboratory (68% of articles com-
pared with about 33% i eld studies). Forty-six
papers used a mesocosm approach (including 32 in
the i eld and 14 in the laboratory). The keyword
'mesocosm' was only attributed when the word
mesocosm was explicitly mentioned in the article.
This imbalance illustrates the need to conduct
additional mesocosm experiments in order to com-
plement laboratory studies. While laboratory exper-
iments are appropriate for some types of studies,
mesocosm and other larger-scale i eld studies
provide another dimension to the interpretation of
results, thanks to the inclusion of trophic interac-
tions and an environment closer to a natural one.
Few papers (23 or fewer than 6%) used molecular
techniques to study changes in gene expression and
genetic diversity in response to ocean acidii cation.
However, the i rst paper was published only in
2006; these methods are likely to become more
important in the near future (see Chapter 5).
1.5
Risks and policy implications
Ocean acidii cation, often referred to as 'the other
CO
2
problem', has stood in the shadow of global
warming for many years and is only recently begin-
ning to gain increased consideration from policy-
makers, politicians, the media, and the general
public. The coverage of ocean acidii cation in the
Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental
Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), published in 2007,
was limited to just a few out of several thousands of
pages. The body of literature published in this
research domain does not permit an understanding
as robust as the one produced by the multitude of
studies that have been carried out on the effects of
climate change. However, it has allowed the detec-
tion of a second, and possibly as serious, facet of the
consequences of anthropogenic CO
2
emissions.
While the number of ocean acidii cation studies
increases and a better understanding of its conse-
quences becomes available, scientists continue to
work for the consideration of this phenomenon
in the post-Kyoto negotiations and in the Fifth
Assessment Report of the IPCC. The rest of this sec-
tion briel y introduces the socio-economic risks, the
dissemination approaches, and the policy implica-
tions associated with ocean acidii cation. A full cov-
erage of these issues is available in Chapter 13.
1.4.3.7 Afi liation of i rst author
European countries contributed 44% and the USA
32% of the publications on ocean acidii cation from
1906 to 2010 (based on afi liation of the i rst author;
Fig. 1.2F). Within Europe, 34% of the articles were
produced by UK scientists and 25% by German scien-
tists. Funding to launch major research programmes
such as EPOCA (the European Project on OCean
Acidii cation), even though recent, could partly
explain the greater contribution from European
countries. With the Federal Ocean Acidii cation
1.5.1
Risks to society and the economy
The economic, cultural, societal, and nutritional
dependency of humans on the oceans, from the
i shing and tourism industries to recreational
