Ocean Acidification
Edited by Jean-Pierre Gattuso and Lina Hansson
408 pages | 75 illustrations | 246×189 mm
Publication date: September 2011

About this book

• Synthesizes the findings of recent national and international research efforts, including those of EPOCA (European Project on Ocean Acidification), set in a broader global context
• Reviews our current knowledge of the chemical, biological, biogeochemical, and societal implications of ocean acidification, with a particular emphasis on its impact on marine organisms and ecosystems
• Assesses the uncertainties, risks, and thresholds related to ocean acidification at molecular, cellular, organismal, local, and global scales

The ocean helps moderate climate change thanks to its considerable capacity to store CO2, through the combined actions of ocean physics, chemistry, and biology. This storage capacity limits the amount of human-released CO2 remaining in the atmosphere. As CO2 reacts with seawater, it generates dramatic changes in carbonate chemistry, including decreases in pH and carbonate ions and an increase in bicarbonate ions. The consequences of this overall process, known as “ocean acidification”, are raising concerns for the biological, ecological, and biogeochemical health of the world’s oceans, as well as for the potential societal implications. This research level text is the first to synthesize the very latest understanding of the consequences of ocean acidification, with the intention of informing both future research agendas and marine management policy. A prestigious list of authors has been assembled, among them the coordinators of major national and international projects on ocean acidification.
Readership: Suitable for graduate level students as well as professional researchers in oceanography and marine biology. It will also be of relevance and use to a more general audience of marine scientists and managers interested in the effects and potential impacts of ocean acidification.

Table of contents

Wallace S. Broecker: Preface

1. Jean-Pierre Gattuso and Lina Hansson: Ocean Acidification: Background and History
2. Richard E. Zeebe and Andy Ridgwell: Past Changes of Ocean Carbonate Chemistry
3. James C. Orr: Recent and Future Changes in Ocean Carbonate Chemistry
4. Andrew H. Knoll and Woodward W. Fischer: Skeletons and Ocean Chemistry: The Long View
5. Markus G. Weinbauer, Xavier Mari, and Jean-Pierre Gattuso: Effect of Ocean Acidification on the Diversity and Activity of Heterotrophic Marine Microorganisms
6. Ulf Riebesell and Philippe D. Tortell: Effects of Ocean Acidification on Pelagic Organisms and Ecosystems
7. Andreas J. Andersson, Fred T. Mackenzie, and Jean-Pierre Gattuso: Effects of Ocean Acidification on Benthic Processes, Organisms, and Ecosystems
8. Hans-Otto Pörtner, Magda Gutowska, Atsushi Ishimatsu, Magnus Lucassen, Frank Melzner, and Brad Seibel: Effects of Ocean Acidification on Nektonic Organisms
9. Stephen Widdicombe, John I. Spicer, and Vassilis Kitidis: Effects of Ocean Acidification on Sediment Fauna
10. James P. Barry, Stephen Widdicombe, and Jason M. Hall-Spencer: Effects of Ocean Acidification on Marine Biodiversity and Ecosystem Function
11. Frances Hopkins, Philip Nightingale, and Peter Liss: Effects of Ocean Acidification on the Marine Source of Atmospherically-Active Trace Gases
12. Marion Gehlen, Nicolas Gruber, Reidun Gangstø, Laurent Bopp, and Andreas Oschlies: Biogeochemical Consequences of Ocean Acidification and Feedback to the Earth System
13. Carol Turley and Kelvin Boot: Economic and Policy Issues for Science and Society
14. Fortunat Joos, Thomas L. Frölicher, Marco Steinacher, and Gian-Kasper Plattner: Impact of Climate Change Mitigation on Ocean Acidification Projections
15. Jean-Pierre Gattuso, Jelle Bijma, Marion Gehlen, Ulf Riebesell, and Carol Turley: Ocean Acidification: Knowns, Unknowns, and Perspectives

Oxford University Press, 8 April 2011. Web site.