Get The Environmental And Economic Impacts Of Ocean Acidification

"Commercial, subsistence and recreational fishing [and] tourism and coral ecosystems" will likely be damaged by ocean acidification, the plan said. Multibillion-dollar fisheries such as West Coast Dungeness crab, Alaska king crab and New England sea scallops are vulnerable.

Ocean acidification is expected to have negative overall effects on many marine species. This could alter marine food chains and food supply to humans. Acidification could also decrease storm protection from reefs, tourism opportunities, and other benefits that are difficult to value.

Coral Reefs The first way ocean acidification impacts the poor is through their access to food. Many poor communities live in coastal areas, therefore relying on seafood to feed themselves and their families. In places like Indonesia, reefs and fish populations are dying at an unprecedented rate.

For good reason, ocean acidification is sometimes called “osteoporosis of the sea.” Ocean acidification can create conditions that eat away at the minerals used by oysters, clams, lobsters, shrimp, coral reefs, and other marine life to build their shells and skeletons. Human health is also a concern.

Ocean acidification has been shown to affect organisms and ecosystems, impacting ecosystem services such as food security, by endangering fisheries and aquaculture. It also impacts coastal protection (for example by weakening coral reefs shielding the coastline), transportation and tourism.

Moreover, among the most vulnerable are those with the highest GDP, including the United States, China, Japan, Canada, the United Kingdom and the Republic of Korea.

Ocean acidification can modify the abundance and chemical composition of harmful algal blooms in such a way that shellfish toxicity increases and, therefore, human health is negatively affected.

"Commercial, subsistence and recreational fishing [and] tourism and coral ecosystems" will likely be damaged by ocean acidification, the plan said. Multibillion-dollar fisheries such as West Coast Dungeness crab, Alaska king crab and New England sea scallops are vulnerable.