The US may violate its own standards on water quality by refusing to limit emissions of carbon dioxide, suggests a new study modelling ocean acidification. "About one-third of the CO2 from fossil-fuel burning is absorbed by the world’s oceans," explains Ken Caldeira at Stanford University in California, US, who led the study.
The CO2 lowers the pH of the ocean’s surface, a phenomenon known as ocean acidification. This is predicted to have dramatic consequences on marine life by dissolving the shells of tiny organisms and corals.
If governments do nothing to limit greenhouse-gas emissions, CO2 levels in the oceans will rise to a point where, by 2050, ocean acidification will reach a level considered to be industrial waste by the US’s own standards, found the study to be published on 25 September. ""We need to start thinking about carbon dioxide as an ocean pollutant," urges Caldeira. "When we release carbon dioxide to the atmosphere, we are dumping industrial waste in the ocean."
The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) water quality criteria, states that the pH of ocean waters beyond 200 metres deep should not be changed more than 0.2 units outside natural levels. Estimates put natural levels at a range from 8 to 8.25 pH. Anything beyond this is considered industrial waste. However, these standards are not enshrined in US law.
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http://environment.newscientist.com/article/dn12681-us-set-to-violate-its-standards-on-cosub2sub-emissions-.html
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