Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page. As functioning ecosystems, coral reefs  will become defunct by 2050 unless actions are taken to mitigate ocean acidification .

One effective counter-measure is awareness spreading. The SCCT consider that the most important audience are present-day schoolchildren - after all, they will be 'picking up the tab' of marine food shortages which will result from reef demise.. To this end, we are hoping to produce a 5-minute cartoon to outline the problem and suggest possible remedies - see the photos/video attached. However, the SCCT will need funds to cover media specialists, writers and scientists to help with the cartoon production in addition to the costs of producing a DVD/CD.. Moves are already in hand to 'get the show on the road' - the SCCT are hoping to have the production complete by the end of 2011. Your donation will go a long way towards these costs.  Factual support written by EPOCA (the European Project on OCean Acidification) for the cartoon is reproduced below:

 

A special introductory guide for policy advisers and decision makers.

                There is a clear consensus from the many scientific statements that are now being made about ocean acidification that rapid, unprecedented changes are occurring.         

                This introductory guide is written especially for policy advisers and decision makers worldwide and a wake-up call about the double impact on our seas of climate change and ocean acidification caused by increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide levels. It sets out the basic facts about the alarming and progressive acidification of the ocean that is threatening our marine ecosystems.. The Earth’s geological record shows that previous episodes of ocean acidification were linked to mass extinctions of some species, and it is reasonable to assume that this episode could have the same consequences.  There can be little doubt that the ocean is undergoing dramatic changes that will impact many human lives now and in the coming generations, unless we act quickly and decisively.

 

FAST FACTS :

·         Currently, each year the ocean absorbs 25% of all the carbon dioxide (CO2) that we emit.

·         This hidden ocean ‘service’ has been estimated to represent an annual subsidy to the global economy of US$60 – US$400 billion per year.

·         The increasing volume and rate of our CO2 emissions is progressively impacting the ocean system causing the acidity of sea water to increase – this phenomenon is termed ‘ocean acidification’.

·         Ocean acidity has increased by 30% since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution and the rate of acidification will accelerate in the coming decades. This rate of change, to the best of our knowledge, is many times faster than anything previously experienced over the last 55 million years.

·         Numerous animals and plants in the sea have calcium carbonate skeletons or shells. Some are especially sensitive to small changes in acidity and there is some evidence they are already being affected. Many of these sensitive species are directly or indirectly of great cultural, economic or biological importance as primary producers, reef builders.

·         The impact of ocean acidification on marine species and food webs will affect major economic interests and could increasingly put at risk food security, particularly in regions especially dependent on seafood protein.

·         Valuable ecosystems may be damaged or destroyed by ocean acidification – it is predicted that if atmospheric CO2 levels continue to rise as expected, by 2050 conditions for warm water coral reefs will be marginal and we can expect extinctions of some species. By 2100, 70% of cold water corals may be exposed to corrosive waters.

·         The impact of ocean acidification on coral reefs will compromise community security in low-lying areas that are protected from erosion and inundation by these ecosystems.

·         Aggressive and immediate cuts in CO2 emissions leading to stabilization and ideally reductions in atmospheric CO2 levels will be necessary to slow the progression of ocean acidification, as well as global climate change.

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