Effect of increased atmospheric CO2 on shallow water marine benthos

[1] The decision to sequester CO2 in the deep ocean should ultimately be based not only upon what would happen to deep sea marine biota but also upon what would happen to surface organisms if nothing were done to limit atmospheric CO2. Thus such a decision should be based on a proper understanding of long-term chronic effects, from the global-scale perturbation in near-surface ocean CO2, in addition to acute effects, from large local increases in CO2 caused by purposeful sequestration. Here we focus on the long-term chronic effects of CO2 on shallow water benthic organisms that have calcium carbonate shells. With two duplicate 6 month manipulative experiments, we demonstrate that a 200 ppm increase in CO2 adversely affects the growth of both gastropods and sea urchins. Thus even moderate increases in atmospheric CO2 that could well be reached by the middle of this century will adversely affect shallow water marine benthic organisms. This provides another reason, beyond concerns for climate, to enhance efforts to limit increases in atmospheric CO2 to the lowest possible levels.

[1]  H. Pörtner,et al.  Effects of long-term moderate hypercapnia on acid-base balance and growth rate in marine mussels (Mytilus galloprovincialis) , 2005 .

[2]  Shinji Shimode,et al.  Sub-Lethal Effects of Elevated Concentration of CO2 on Planktonic Copepods and Sea Urchins , 2004 .

[3]  Wallace S. Broecker,et al.  Atmospheric response to deep-sea injections of fossil-fuel carbon dioxide , 1979 .

[4]  Biodiversity and biological impact of ocean disposal of carbon dioxide , 1998 .

[5]  R. Bamber.  The effects of acidic seawater on three species of lamellibranch mollusc , 1990 .

[6]  Y. Fujioka,et al.  Impacts of high concentration of CO2 on marine organisms; a modification of CO2 ocean sequestration , 1997 .

[7]  Zong-ci Zhao,et al.  Climate change 2001, the scientific basis, chap. 8: model evaluation. Contribution of Working Group I to the Third Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change IPCC , 2001 .

[8]  H. Herzog,et al.  Impacts of reduced pH from ocean CO2 disposal: Sensitivity of zooplankton mortality to model parameters , 1998 .

[9]  J. Knutzen.  Effects of decreased pH on marine organisms , 1981 .

[10]  U. Riebesell.  Effects of CO2 Enrichment on Marine Phytoplankton , 2004 .

[11]  T. Ikeda,et al.  Oceanic Disposal of CO_2 : Potential Effects on Deep-Sea Plankton and Micronekton-A Review , 1998 .

[12]  C. Marchetti.  On geoengineering and the CO2 problem , 1977 .

[13]  T. Ohsumi,et al.  Perspectives on Biological Research for CO2 Ocean Sequestration , 2004 .

[14]  H. Pörtner,et al.  Biological Impact of Elevated Ocean CO2 Concentrations: Lessons from Animal Physiology and Earth History , 2004 .

[15]  E. Peltzer,et al.  Effects of Direct Ocean CO2 Injection on Deep-Sea Meiofauna , 2004 .

[16]  J. Barry,et al.  Influence of Introduced CO2 on Deep-Sea Metazoan Meiofauna , 2004 .

[17]  H. Herzog,et al.  Disposing of CO2 in the Ocean , 1994 .

[18]  Ulf Riebesell,et al.  Reduced calcification of marine plankton in response to increased atmospheric CO2 , 2000, Nature.

[19]  Takashi Kikkawa,et al.  Effects of CO2 on Marine Fish: Larvae and Adults , 2004 .

[20]  Nobuhiko Handa,et al.  Direct ocean disposal of carbon dioxide , 1995 .

[21]  Peter M. Haugan,et al.  Sequestration of C02 in the deep ocean by shallow injection , 1992, Nature.