Management to combat ocean acidification will require local efforts with global coordination. Many of the top CO
2 producers are less impacted by ocean acidification than populations with less power and lower emissions. It is of the utmost importance to make sure that the main producers of CO
2, including the USA, take responsibility for their actions and take the lead on management of this issue and financing of solutions.
We cannot stop ocean acidification from happening. Even if CO
2 release instantly dropped to zero, there is enough carbon dioxide in the atmosphere that acidification would continue for centuries.
6 We must recognize that we cannot emit CO
2 at current rates and expect the world to stay the same; globally we must also find ways to protect the oceans and the marine life upon which so many people rely. In addition to protecting the integrity of ecosystems by protecting the oceans, we are protecting the survival of communities that rely upon these ecosystems.
Large scale plans to counteract ocean acidification have been proposed in the past, such as liming the ocean. This is how past ocean acidification events were overcome but never from the current level of acidity and taking millenia to recover. Unfortunately ocean acidification is such a large scale issue that it would take an immense quantity to make any dent even in restricted locations. In addition, the process of extracting the limestone would also be quite environmentally damaging and expensive. It would take tens of billions of dollars to mine, transport, process and distribute the limestone necessary to even partially ameliorate the impacts of ocean acidification.
10 Some past management suggestions for ameliorating atmospheric CO
2, like iron ferilization, were shown in some studies to increase deep ocean acidity without any noticeable benefit to the surface waters.
5 Clearly ocean acidification is not a problem with an easy solution, but in order to maintain our oceans at all, we must work to prevent the cause of ocean acidification as well as mitigate the conditions that will be around no matter what we do now.
