(LATO) IN LOWERED SEAWATER pH - Central Visayas Campus ...

is 100 times faster than any change during the past 650 000 years (Royal Society,
2005; Siegenthaler et al., 2005). Elevated partial pressure of CO2 in seawater (also
known as hypercapnia) can impact marine organisms both via decreased calcium
carbonate (CaCO3) saturation, which affects calcification rates, and via disturbance to
acid–base (metabolic) physiology. The oceanic uptake of anthropogenic CO 2 and the
concomitant changes in seawater chemistry have adverse consequences for many
calcifying organisms, and may result in changes to biodiversity, trophic interactions,
and other ecosystem processes (Royal Society, 2005; Fabry et al., 2006).
Climate change is a problem that is affecting people and the environment.
Climate-focused agencies have been designing and implementing programs to help
conserve the environment. Greater energy efficiency and new technologies hold
promise for reducing greenhouse gases and solving this global challenge
(http://www.epa.gov/climatechange, 2007).
All across the world, people are taking action because climate change has
serious impacts, locally and globally. For example, in 2007, scientists from the
International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) predicted that warming oceans and
melting glaciers due to global warming and climate change could cause sea levels to
rise 7-23 inches by the year 2100. Worldwide, densely populated coastal communities
and infrastructure that supports them would be affected (such as city buildings and
homes, roads, ports and wastewater treatment plants). Some would be flooded or
more vulnerable to storm damage. In flat terrain, the shoreline could move many
miles inland (http://www.ecy.wa.gov/climatechange/whatis.htm, 2007).
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