the scale of projected change in pH that is significant in terms of impacts on organisms, their
resilience, and their capacity to adapt, but also the projected speed of that change. While some
species, particularly in naturally more variable coastal waters, appear to show greater
resilience to acidification than others, the physiological adjustments necessary to survive may
not be without other consequences for growth, reproduction, and survival.9
In its 5th Assessment report, the IPCC concluded with high confidence that the
combination of acidification and warming of coastal waters “will continue with significant
negative consequences for coastal ecosystems” and “will have negative impacts for many
calcifying organisms”, including impacts on coral bleaching, mortality, and the balance
between growth and erosion.10 There is high confidence that warm-water coral reefs, in
particular, will be at increased risk of dissolution from rising acidity in a warming ocean.11
The resulting reduction in species diversity of reef communities and, potentially, loss of
structural integrity, may well be expected to have serious social and economic consequences
for fisheries, coastal protection, and tourism by the middle of the century.12 Additional socioeconomic impacts are expected to arise from effects, for example, on bivalve mollusk
fisheries (such as those for oysters and scallops), with perhaps the greatest impacts to fisheries
reliant on wild stocks13 or aquaculture operations in which the ability to monitor and adjust
for acidification events may be limited.
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change [Field, C.B., V.R. Barros, D.J. Dokken, K.J. Mach, M.D.
Mastrandrea, T.E. Bilir, M. Chatterjee, K.L. Ebi, Y.O. Estrada, R.C. Genova, B. Girma, E.S. Kissel, A.N. Levy,
S. MacCracken, P.R. Mastrandrea, and L.L.White (eds.)]. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, United
Kingdom and New York, NY, USA, pp. 411-484.
9
I.E. Hendriks & C.M. Duarte & Y.S. Olsen & A. Steckbauer & L. Ramajo & T.S. Moore & J.A. Trotter & M.
McCulloch, Biological Mechanisms Supporting Adapatation to Ocean Acidification in Coastal Ecosystems, 152
ESTUARINE, COASTAL, AND SHELF SCIENCE A1 (2015).
10
Wong, P.P., I.J. Losada, J.-P. Gattuso, J. Hinkel, A. Khattabi, K.L. McInnes, Y. Saito, and A. Sallenger, supra
note 4.
11
Pörtner, H.-O., D.M. Karl, P.W. Boyd,W.W.L. Cheung, S.E. Lluch-Cota, Y. Nojiri, D.N. Schmidt, and P.O.
Zavialov (2014) Ocean systems. In: Climate Change 2014: Impacts, Adaptation, and Vulnerability. Part A:
Global and Sectoral Aspects. Contribution of Working Group II to the Fifth Assessment Report of the
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change [Field, C.B., V.R. Barros, D.J. Dokken, K.J. Mach, M.D.
Mastrandrea, T.E. Bilir, M. Chatterjee, K.L. Ebi, Y.O. Estrada, R.C. Genova, B. Girma, E.S. Kissel, A.N. Levy,
S. MacCracken, P.R. Mastrandrea, and L.L.White (eds.)]. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, United
Kingdom and New York, NY, USA, pp. 411-484.
12
O. Hoegh-Guldberg & P.J. Mumby & A.J. Hooten & R.S. Steneck & P. Greenfield & E. Gomez & C.D.
Harvell & P.F. Sale & A.J. Edwards & K. Caldeira & N. Knowlton & C.M. Eakin & R. Iglesias-Prieto & N.
Muthiga & R.H. Bradbury & A. Dubi & M.E. Hatziolos, Coral Reefs Under Rapid Climate Change and Ocean
Acidification, 318(5857) SCIENCE 1737 (2007).
13
R.G. Richards & A.T. Davidson & J.O. Meynecke & K. Beattie & V. Hernaman & T. Lynam & I.E. van
Putten, I.E., Effects and Mitigations of Ocean Acidification on Wild and Aquaculture Scallop and Prawn
Fisheries in Queensland, Australia, 161 FISHERIES RESEARCH 42 (2015).