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A report issued on Monday indicates that the world’s oceans are approaching dangerously high acidity levels, which could impair their ability to support marine life and contribute to climate regulation.
The report issued by the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) specifies nine fundamental factors that are vital for regulating the planet’s capacity to sustain life.
Recent years have seen human activity push the safe limits beyond acceptable thresholds in six of these critical areas.
The PIK’s inaugural Planetary Health Check warns that the important threshold for ocean acidification could soon become the seventh to be compromised.
The boundaries that have already been breached concern critical and interconnected factors, including climate change, the loss of biodiversity and habitats, freshwater scarcity, and rising levels of pollutants like plastics and chemical fertilizers in agriculture.
The sustainable level of ocean acidification is now also set to be exceeded, largely as a result of ever-increasing emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) created by burning fossil fuels like oil, coal and gas.
“As CO2 emissions increase, more of it dissolves in sea water… making the oceans more acidic,” Boris Sakschewski, one of the lead authors, told reporters.
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“Even with rapid emission cuts, some level of continued acidification may be unavoidable due to the CO2 already emitted and the time it takes for the ocean system to respond,” he explained.
“Therefore, breaching the ocean acidification boundary appears inevitable within the coming years.”
Acidic water damages corals, shellfish and the phytoplankton that feeds a host of marine species.
In effect, this not only threatens the food security of billions but also restricts the oceans’ role in absorbing further CO2, which is essential in the fight against global warming.
The status of the Earth’s protective ozone layer stands out as the only one of the nine planetary boundaries that is not nearing a critical threshold.
This shield has been compromised by synthetic chemicals, resulting in problems such as acid rain, yet it has shown signs of recovery following the prohibition of many of these harmful substances in 1987.
The concentration of minute particles in the atmosphere, which poses risks for heart and lung health, represents a ninth threshold that is nearing dangerous levels.
Despite this, researchers reported that the risk is showing signs of slight improvement, driven by actions from several countries to enhance air quality, including the banning of the most pollutive petrol and diesel automobiles.
