October 8, 2014 — Ocean acidification will cost the world economy over $1tr annually by 2100, according to a UN report released this week. Changing the composition of the world's oceans will undermine a variety of commercial operations, it said.
Published by the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity, the report warns that various services to the economy provided by the ocean's ecosystem will be compromised by increased acidity due to increased carbon production.
Ecosystem services break down into several groups, underpinned by a set of supporting services, such as nutrient cycling, according to the report. Provisioning services include the production of seafood. Regulating services help to maintain a stable climate. Cultural services include education and recreation.
Imbalances in the ocean's chemistry are already leading to biological impacts in areas such as the Pacific Northwest in the US, where oyster hatcheries are seeing higher levels of larval mortality, said the document. Worldwide, mollusc fisheries stand to lose $139bn annually, it warned.
"The species immediately impacted are those that build a shell," explained Emily Jeffers, staff attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity, who did not work on the report. "When the water becomes more acidic it's harder to form and maintain that shell, and must expend energy that otherwise might go towards development, acquiring food, or reproducing."