Stabilizing and reducing atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) concentrations to avoid “dangerous” climate change is one of the greatest challenges facing humanity in the 21st century. Long-term sustainable solutions include the reduction of CO2 emissions by decarbonizing energy generation, demand reduction through efficiency improvements, and responsible land use management. In several recent publications, we have advocated that shellfish farmers should greatly expand their production specifically to generate more shells to sequester atmospheric carbon. From the perspective of a long-term change in the Earth’s surface environment, foraminifera seems to be more adaptive and robust than corals in coping with ocean warming and acidification, but it is necessary to further understand the mechanisms underlying variations in sensitivity to heat stress and acidified seawater for future prediction. Since CO2 is more soluble in lower-temperature seawater, ocean acidification is more critical in the polar and high-latitude regions. Our core conviction is that humankind must look to the oceans for the solution to the excess CO2 in the atmosphere that drives climate change, and that marine calcifiers (coccolithophores, Foraminifera, Mollusca, Crustacea, Anthozoa, Echinodermata and some annelids) are the tools that will provide that solution. We consider that the action plans we have suggested offer the good news message that if we act quickly to change our attitude to calcifier cultivation and, particularly, greatly magnify the global scale of this activity, we could make a serious contribution to ameliorating climate change in the foreseeable future.
Author(s) Details:
David Moore
Department of Biology, Medicine and Health, School of Biological Sciences, The University of
Manchester, UK.
Matthias Heilweck
Independent Researcher, F-68240, Kaysersberg, France.
William Burton Fears
Department of Medicine, Southwestern Medical School, Dallas, Texas and Founding Fellow of the
American College of Endocrinology, USA.
Peter Petros
Kaapa Biotech Oy, Teilinummentie 4, 09120 Karjalohja, Finland.
Samuel J Squires
Department of Biology, Medicine and Health, The University of Manchester, UK.
Elena Tamburini
Department of Environmental and Prevention Sciences, University of Ferrara, Ferrara, Italy
Robert Paul Waldron
Independent Researcher, LA-70448, Mandeville, Louisiana, USA.
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Recent Global Research Developments in Advantages of Ocean Acidification for Marine Calcifiers
Vulnerability to Dissolution: OA decreases seawater pH, which shallows the saturation horizon (the depth where calcium carbonate dissolves). This likely increases the vulnerability of marine calcifiers to dissolution. Species depositing more soluble CaCO₃ mineral phases (such as aragonite and high-Mg calcite) may be impacted first [1].
Mineralogical Composition Matters: A meta-analysis shows that species-specific responses to OA depend on their skeletal mineralogy. Taxa with calcitic, aragonitic, and high-Mg calcite skeletons may be more vulnerable, while low-Mg calcite species could be resilient [1].
Mixed Responses: Some calcifiers (like echinoderms, crustaceans, and cephalopods) appear tolerant to near-future OA, while coccolithophores, calcifying algae, and corals seem sensitive [2].
References
- Figuerola B, Hancock AM, Bax N, Cummings VJ, Downey R, Griffiths HJ, Smith J and Stark JS (2021) A Review and Meta-Analysis of Potential Impacts of Ocean Acidification on Marine Calcifiers From the Southern Ocean. Front. Mar. Sci. 8:584445. doi: 10.3389/fmars.2021.584445
- Leung, J. Y., Zhang, S., & Connell, S. D. (2022). Is ocean acidification really a threat to marine calcifiers? A systematic review and meta‐analysis of 980+ studies spanning two decades. Small, 18(35), 2107407.
- Justin B. Ries, Anne L. Cohen, Daniel C. McCorkle; Marine calcifiers exhibit mixed responses to CO2-induced ocean acidification. Geology 2009;; 37 (12): 1131–1134. doi: https://doi.org/10.1130/G30210A.1
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