Irrespective of what is happening to temperature, ice caps, the weather, polar bears, amazon frogs, or alpine plants, as carbon dioxide in the atmosphere rises so does that in the oceans. The process is not instantaneous and there is some time delay; we have already stored CO2 so future ocean acidifiation capacity in the atmosphere which will take a while to manifest.

Conversely in the longer term it will likely take a long while (100s – 000s of years) for the ocean acidification to significantly reduce even if we stop putting CO2 into the atmosphere tomorrow.Why does it matter apart from the fact that oysters are already having difficulty in breeding (80% fall – link)

“For shellfish growers the future is now, a very real problem; we hope that people pay attention to’ the canary in the coal mine’”

Of importance in nutritional terms and hence its inclusion on this web-site, pteropods marine winged snails that are a major part of the sector of the marine food chain on which we rely for foods appear to be having difficulty in forming their shells, well because . . .

Food web dissolving Seattle Times

Scientists have documented that souring seas caused by CO2 emissions are dissolving pteropods, a key marine food source. The research raises questions about what other sea life might be affected.(Seattle Times Read More See story by Craig Welch Photographs by Steve Ringman)

50-85% of Our Oxygen is Produced by Ocean Bacteria
and we may have divergent views on the relative importance of polar bears, alpine plants, and rare Amazonian frogs, as we try and reconcile their existence with the importance to us of planes, planes cars, central heating, laptops and mobile phones, but in common with other living things, and of fundamental importance;

Maybe 50 -85% – a lot – of the oxygen we breathe is produced by cyano- or related- bacteria particularly Prochlorococcus in the oceans.

They are strongly arguably the most important life form on earth, because it was they who produced the oxygen rich atmosphere that enabled the development and sustenance of life that includes humans. Of course defining a ‘most’ important element of a system that is hugely interlinked and interdependent because they are all strategic to life as we know it, but ultimately we are part of an oxygen defined and dependent life system.

Conversely in the longer term it will likely take a long while (100s – 000s of years) for the ocean acidification to significantly reduce even if we stop putting CO2 into the atmosphere tomorrow.Why does it matter apart from the fact that oysters are already having difficulty in breeding (80% fall )

They are strongly arguably the most important life form on earth, because it was they who produced the oxygen rich atmosphere that enabled the development and sustenance of life that includes humans. Of course defining a ‘most’ important element of a system that is hugely interlinked and interdependent because they are all strategic to life as we know it, but ultimately we are part of an oxygen defined and dependent life system.

They will be impacted by ocean acidification but we have no idea exactly how because the amount of research is negligible. There are a “negligible ” number of papers on the topic of cyanobacteria including prochlorococcus and ocean acidification in terms of carbon dioxide impact and nitrogen fixation, and as yet I have found none  directed specifically at cyanobacteria and atmospheric and ocean oxygen levels.

I find that truly scary and somewhat mind-numbing – an uncontrolled experiment that could lead to the extinction of not just polar bears but all oxygen dependent life including homo sometimes not so sapiens.

Another important group of cyanobacteria are called Synechococcus. A paper looking at their ability to adapt to higher temperature suggests they are adaptable but adaptation requires the presence of certain nutrients which are reduced as temperatures and up-welling patterns change – so the reality is much is unknown so the risk is as yet relatively unquantified but the risk to humanity and wider life on plant earth potentially immense.

Even if we stopped putting so much carbon dioxide into the atmosphere tomorrow it appears the time for that to show in reduction of ocean acidification is in the time range of 100s or years or more.  Further the amount of carbon dioxide in the current atmosphere will take a while to equilibriate with what is already in the oceans so acidification will rise even if we stopped putting excess carbon dioxide into the atmosphere as of today.

ABSTRACT

Effect of Temperature on Photosynthesis and
Growth in Marine Synechococcus spp. (Link to PDF)
Katherine R.M. Mackey*, Adina Paytan, Ken Caldeira, Arthur R. Grossman, Dawn Moran,
Matthew McIlvin, and Mak A. Saito

“Possible Implications from Global Change Global mean SSTs have already risen above 0.7°C and are projected to rise by approximately 1°C within the next two decades and up to 3°C by the end of the century (IPCC, 2007). Some local and regional areas will of course warm even more. The increased capacity for performing state transitions and synthesizing more photosynthetic proteins could help marine Synechococcus spp. as a genus expand further into higher latitudes as SST rises in the future, although other (nonphotosynthetic) acclimation processes will clearly also play a role. Secondary effects from climate warming could compound the direct effect of temperature on Synechococcus spp. growth and photosynthesis. By the middle of this century, sea surface warming is expected to lead to the expansion of permanently stratified, lowproductivity waters by 4.0% in the northern hemisphere and 9.4% in the southern hemisphere (Sarmiento et al., 2004). These ultraoligotrophic environments receive less input of nutrients such as N and Fe through deep mixing, and surface waters are characterized by vanishingly low levels of these key nutrients (Noble et al., 2012). Acclimation of Synechococcus spp. to higher temperatures appears to rely in part on the cell’s ability to balance PSII excitation pressure by synthesizing more N-rich pigment proteins and Fe-rich photosynthetic membrane proteins (Fig. 9); however, this strategy would be hampered under prolonged oligotrophic conditions. Future studies should incorporate nutrient limitation over a range of temperatures to help clarify this issue.”

Maybe 50 -85% – a lot – of the oxygen we breathe is produced by cyano- or related- bacteria particularly Prochlorococcus in the oceans.

They are strongly arguably the most important life form on earth, because it was they who produced the oxygen rich atmosphere that enabled the development and sustenance of life that includes humans. Of course defining a ‘most’ important element of a system that is hugely interlinked and interdependent because they are all strategic to life as we know it, but ultimately we are part of an oxygen defined and dependent life system.

Conversely in the longer term it will likely take a long while (100s – 000s of years) for the ocean acidification to significantly reduce even if we stop putting CO2 into the atmosphere tomorrow.Why does it matter apart from the fact that oysters are already having difficulty in breeding (80% fall )

They are strongly arguably the most important life form on earth, because it was they who produced the oxygen rich atmosphere that enabled the development and sustenance of life that includes humans. Of course defining a ‘most’ important element of a system that is hugely interlinked and interdependent because they are all strategic to life as we know it, but ultimately we are part of an oxygen defined and dependent life system.

They will be impacted by ocean acidification but we have no idea exactly how because the amount of research is negligible. There are a “negligible ” number of papers on the topic of cyanobacteria including prochlorococcus and ocean acidification in terms of carbon dioxide impact and nitrogen fixation, and as yet I have found none  directed specifically at cyanobacteria and atmospheric and ocean oxygen levels.

I find that truly scary and somewhat mind-numbing – an uncontrolled experiment that could lead to the extinction of not just polar bears but all oxygen dependent life including homo sometimes not so sapiens.

Another important group of cyanobacteria are called Synechococcus. A paper looking at their ability to adapt to higher temperature suggests they are adaptable but adaptation requires the presence of certain nutrients which are reduced as temperatures and up-welling patterns change – so the reality is much is unknown so the risk is as yet relatively unquantified but the risk to humanity and wider life on plant earth potentially immense.

Even if we stopped putting so much carbon dioxide into the atmosphere tomorrow it appears the time for that to show in reduction of ocean acidification is in the time range of 100s or years or more.  Further the amount of carbon dioxide in the current atmosphere will take a while to equilibriate with what is already in the oceans so acidification will rise even if we stopped putting excess carbon dioxide into the atmosphere as of today.

ABSTRACT

Effect of Temperature on Photosynthesis and
Growth in Marine Synechococcus spp. (Link to PDF)
Katherine R.M. Mackey*, Adina Paytan, Ken Caldeira, Arthur R. Grossman, Dawn Moran,
Matthew McIlvin, and Mak A. Saito

“Possible Implications from Global Change Global mean SSTs have already risen above 0.7°C and are projected to rise by approximately 1°C within the next two decades and up to 3°C by the end of the century (IPCC, 2007). Some local and regional areas will of course warm even more. The increased capacity for performing state transitions and synthesizing more photosynthetic proteins could help marine Synechococcus spp. as a genus expand further into higher latitudes as SST rises in the future, although other (nonphotosynthetic) acclimation processes will clearly also play a role. Secondary effects from climate warming could compound the direct effect of temperature on Synechococcus spp. growth and photosynthesis. By the middle of this century, sea surface warming is expected to lead to the expansion of permanently stratified, lowproductivity waters by 4.0% in the northern hemisphere and 9.4% in the southern hemisphere (Sarmiento et al., 2004). These ultraoligotrophic environments receive less input of nutrients such as N and Fe through deep mixing, and surface waters are characterized by vanishingly low levels of these key nutrients (Noble et al., 2012). Acclimation of Synechococcus spp. to higher temperatures appears to rely in part on the cell’s ability to balance PSII excitation pressure by synthesizing more N-rich pigment proteins and Fe-rich photosynthetic membrane proteins (Fig. 9); however, this strategy would be hampered under prolonged oligotrophic conditions. Future studies should incorporate nutrient limitation over a range of temperatures to help clarify this issue.”

CONCLUSION

The genera Synechococcus and Prochlorococcus together account for about one-third of total primary production on Earth (Partensky et al., 1999b) and thus play important roles in Earth’s global carbon cycle.”  . . . MORE

At the level of day to day food people like to eat and regularly buy in the supermarket from Scientific American (link)

Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology which found that increasing acidification in the Pacific Ocean—a function of climate change—will cause staggering levels of damage to multiple organs in yellowfin tuna (Thunnus albacares) larvae. The injuries, researchers found, will lessen the tunas’ ability to grow to full size and dramatically reduce their rates of survival.

and if you prefer mussels (link)

“Ocean acidification will make it hard for mussels to hang on experiments suggest the strong, stretchy threads that mussels use to stay put won’t work as well in warmer, more acidic waters . . .”

“Acid tipping point?

The good news is the oceans are not yet so acidic the mussels’ glue won’t work. The bad news is they’re heading that way.In the U of W experiments, the researchers found a pH of 7.6 is low enough to weaken the glue.Right now, the pH of open waters near Hawaii commonly hovers around 8, and ocean acidification models forecast a pH drop of 0.2 or more over the next 100 years, said Carrington.

But in coastal waters, near Vancouver and Seattle, local factors like upwelling put the baseline pH at 7.8 — that much closer to a possible tipping point.

MOST FUNDAMENTAL OF ALL

WE ALL NEED OXYGEN