Opinion | Climate change’s ‘evil twin’ is eating away at Southeast Asia’s seafood. Can it be stopped?
- Ocean acidification, the ‘evil twin’ of climate warming, is another result of rising greenhouse gas emissions that could erode ocean biodiversity
- Alternative fishery habitats, coastal protection are some potential solutions, even as a lack of localised marine water quality data impedes efforts
Ocean acidification, the “evil twin” of global warming, presents a stern challenge to food security, particularly for Southeast Asians.
Oceans have thus far absorbed the brunt of global warming, trapping 93 per cent of excess heat in the biosphere. Ocean warming, along with overfishing, has already caused fish stock depletion by between 15 and 35 per cent over the past eight decades even as global populations grew from 2 billion to 8 billion.
Unfortunately, record ocean temperatures are not the only issue of concern. Ocean acidification, sometimes called the “evil twin” of climate warming, is another result of rising greenhouse gas emissions.
Ocean acidification refers to the drop in pH levels in seawater, which were on average 8.2 in the pre-industrial era. Since then, they have declined by 0.1 units. While this appears minute, because the pH scale is logarithmic, this actually represents a 30 per cent increase in acidity.