Seas' acidity threatens life, livelihoods, film says

NORFOLK

Oceans are becoming more acidic, which poses another threat in Virginia to oysters, clams and crabs as well as to water quality and coastal ecosystems, a panel of scientists and environmentalists warned Wednesday.

The experts, including researchers from Old Dominion University and the Virginia Institute of Marine Science, spoke after a special screening of the documentary film "Acid Test" at the Naro Expanded Cinema in Norfolk.

More than 100 attended the free event, intended to shine a rare spotlight on the little-publicized issue of ocean acidification.

Described as "the other carbon problem," the slow decrease in the pH of ocean waters across the globe is blamed mostly on the burning of fossil fuels and the release of excessive amounts of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.

Scientists once thought that the oceans could absorb the carbon and that it might even be beneficial. But in recent years, as coral reefs have started to vanish and researchers have seen how small aquatic life is having trouble in more corrosive conditions, the tide has changed dramatically.

Debbie Bronk, a researcher at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science, told the audience Wednesday that, as a student, she was taught that it would be incredibly difficult to change the pH of sea water.

"But we've managed to do it," she said, "and in this whole climate change arena, that really scares me."

The film "Acid Test" describes how, since the Industrial Revolution some 200 years ago, ocean waters have increased in acidity by about 30 percent.

And, as Bronk noted, even minor changes in pH mean a great deal, pointing out how battery acid is about a 1 on the pH scale while lemon juice is a 2.

"Battery acid will melt your skin, but you can drink lemon juice," she said.

Increased acidity means that shellfish, from the tiniest to the largest species, have trouble making their shells from calcium carbonate, a victim in the changing chemistry of the oceans, the experts said.

That threat has watermen worried about future impacts on crabs, oysters, clams and other commercial stocks that grow shells or rely on small shellfish for food, said Wayne Creed, an Eastern Shore fisherman, writer and consultant.

Some critics of climate change say that ocean acidification is good, that the phenomenon increases marine life.

James Taylor, a senior fellow at The Heartland Institute, made that case to the Virginia Beach Alternative Energy Task Force last year.

But Margie Mulholland, an ODU researcher, said some species that do well in acidic waters include harmful algae that bloom and steal oxygen from rivers and the Chesapeake Bay every summer.

"Acid Test" was produced by the Natural Resources Defense Council, an environmental group, and was shown on the Discovery Channel last summer.

The group is showing the film in several states, including Virginia, South Carolina and Maine, in the hope of creating political support for a bill pending in Congress to combat climate change, said Lisa Suatoni, a scientist with the defense council.

Scott Harper, (757) 446-2340, scott.harper@pilotonline.com