0:00:22.627,0:00:26.960 Do you ever think about how important[br]the oceans are in our daily lives? 0:00:28.830,0:00:31.576 The oceans cover two-thirds of our planet. 0:00:32.189,0:00:34.591 They provide half the oxygen we breathe. 0:00:35.036,0:00:36.690 They moderate our climate. 0:00:37.055,0:00:40.832 And they provide jobs[br]and medicine and food 0:00:41.181,0:00:46.125 including 20 percent of protein[br]to feed the entire world population. 0:00:47.331,0:00:49.847 People used to think[br]that the oceans were so vast 0:00:49.872,0:00:52.332 that they wouldn't be affected[br]by human activities. 0:00:53.605,0:00:56.891 Well today I'm going to tell you[br]about a serious reality 0:00:56.916,0:01:01.548 that is changing our oceans[br]called ocean acidification, 0:01:01.763,0:01:04.128 or the evil twin of climate change. 0:01:06.200,0:01:11.622 Did you know that the oceans have absorbed[br]25 percent of all of the carbon dioxide 0:01:11.647,0:01:13.890 that we have emitted to the atmosphere? 0:01:14.270,0:01:17.908 Now this is just another great service[br]provided by the oceans 0:01:17.933,0:01:20.802 since carbon dioxide[br]is one of the greenhouse gases 0:01:20.827,0:01:22.583 that's causing climate change. 0:01:23.610,0:01:27.646 But as we keep pumping[br]more and more and more 0:01:27.672,0:01:30.164 carbon dioxide into the atmosphere 0:01:30.330,0:01:32.783 more is dissolving into the oceans. 0:01:33.103,0:01:36.023 And this is what's changing[br]our ocean chemistry. 0:01:37.650,0:01:40.038 When carbon dioxide dissolves in seawater, 0:01:40.063,0:01:42.301 it undergoes a number[br]of chemical reactions. 0:01:42.720,0:01:43.885 Now lucky for you, 0:01:43.910,0:01:47.195 I don't have time to get into[br]the details of the chemistry for today. 0:01:47.688,0:01:51.012 But I'll tell you as more[br]carbon dioxide enters the ocean, 0:01:51.037,0:01:53.394 the seawater pH goes down. 0:01:54.030,0:01:57.997 And this basically means that there[br]is an increase in ocean acidity. 0:01:58.648,0:02:02.770 And this whole process[br]is called ocean acidification. 0:02:03.204,0:02:05.930 And it's happening[br]alongside climate change. 0:02:07.856,0:02:11.959 Scientists have been monitoring[br]ocean acidification for over two decades. 0:02:12.498,0:02:15.171 This figure is an important[br]time series in Hawaii, 0:02:15.196,0:02:20.091 and the top line shows steadily increasing[br]concentrations of carbon dioxide, 0:02:20.116,0:02:22.631 or CO2 gas, in the atmosphere. 0:02:22.742,0:02:25.988 And this is directly as a result[br]of human activities. 0:02:26.840,0:02:30.871 The line underneath shows the increasing[br]concentrations of carbon dioxide 0:02:30.896,0:02:33.832 that is dissolved[br]in the surface of the ocean 0:02:34.078,0:02:37.037 which you can see is increasing[br]at the same rate 0:02:37.062,0:02:40.236 as carbon dioxide in the atmosphere[br]since measurements began. 0:02:42.227,0:02:45.234 The line on the bottom shows[br]then shows the change in chemistry. 0:02:45.259,0:02:48.085 As more carbon dioxide[br]has entered the ocean, 0:02:48.110,0:02:50.356 the seawater pH has gone down, 0:02:51.051,0:02:55.098 which basically means there has been[br]an increase in ocean acidity. 0:02:56.685,0:03:00.755 Now in Ireland, scientists are also[br]monitoring ocean acidification -- 0:03:00.780,0:03:03.573 scientists at the Marine[br]Institute and NUI Galway. 0:03:03.724,0:03:07.873 And we, too, are seeing[br]acidification at the same rate 0:03:07.898,0:03:10.905 as these main ocean time-series[br]sites around the world. 0:03:11.366,0:03:14.420 So it's happening right at our doorstep. 0:03:15.870,0:03:19.028 Now I'd like to give you an example[br]of just how we collect our data 0:03:19.053,0:03:21.306 to monitor a changing ocean. 0:03:22.289,0:03:25.344 Firstly we collect a lot of our samples[br]in the middle of winter. 0:03:25.369,0:03:27.508 So as you can imagine,[br]in the North Atlantic 0:03:27.533,0:03:30.138 we get hit with some seriously[br]stormy conditions -- 0:03:30.163,0:03:32.796 so not for any of you[br]who get a little motion sickness, 0:03:33.407,0:03:35.835 but we are collecting[br]some very valuable data. 0:03:36.792,0:03:39.671 So we lower this instrument[br]over the side of the ship, 0:03:39.696,0:03:42.132 and there are sensors[br]that are mounted on the bottom 0:03:42.157,0:03:44.830 that can tell us information about[br]the surrounding water, 0:03:44.855,0:03:47.275 such as temperature[br]or dissolved oxygen. 0:03:47.750,0:03:51.565 And then we can collect our seawater[br]samples in these large bottles. 0:03:51.732,0:03:54.984 So we start at the bottom,[br]which can be over four kilometers deep 0:03:55.009,0:03:56.866 just off our continental shelf, 0:03:57.112,0:04:00.778 and we take samples at regular intervals[br]right up to the surface. 0:04:01.675,0:04:03.936 We take the seawater back on the deck, 0:04:04.071,0:04:06.450 and then we can either[br]analyze them on the ship 0:04:06.475,0:04:09.610 or back in the laboratory[br]for the different chemicals parameters. 0:04:11.267,0:04:12.553 But why should we care? 0:04:13.551,0:04:17.995 How is ocean acidification[br]going to affect all of us? 0:04:19.654,0:04:22.566 Well, here are the worrying facts. 0:04:23.677,0:04:29.479 There has already been an increase[br]in ocean acidity of 26 percent 0:04:29.504,0:04:33.511 since pre-industrial times,[br]which is directly due to human activities. 0:04:35.251,0:04:39.338 Unless we can start slowing down[br]our carbon dioxide emissions, 0:04:39.631,0:04:45.568 we're expecting an increase[br]in ocean acidity of 170 percent 0:04:45.988,0:04:48.337 by the end of this century. 0:04:49.313,0:04:51.646 I mean this is within[br]our children's lifetime. 0:04:53.105,0:04:58.723 This rate of acidification[br]is 10 times faster 0:04:58.748,0:05:05.169 than any acidification in our oceans[br]for over 55 million years. 0:05:06.360,0:05:10.731 So our marine life have never,[br]ever experienced 0:05:10.756,0:05:13.525 such a fast rate of change before. 0:05:13.851,0:05:17.750 So we literally could not know[br]how they're going to cope. 0:05:19.435,0:05:24.021 Now there was a natural acidification[br]event millions of years ago, 0:05:24.046,0:05:27.654 which was much slower[br]than what we're seeing today. 0:05:28.080,0:05:33.155 And this coincided with a mass extinction[br]of many marine species. 0:05:34.491,0:05:36.078 So is that what we're headed for? 0:05:36.870,0:05:38.020 Well, maybe. 0:05:38.631,0:05:42.123 Studies are showing[br]some species are actually doing quite well 0:05:42.148,0:05:45.138 but many are showing a negative response. 0:05:47.586,0:05:51.633 One of the big concerns is[br]as ocean acidity increases, 0:05:51.927,0:05:56.181 the concentration of carbonate[br]ions in seawater decrease. 0:05:56.990,0:05:59.901 Now these ions are basically[br]the building blocks 0:05:59.926,0:06:02.727 for many marine species[br]to make their shells, 0:06:03.559,0:06:08.114 for example crabs or mussels, oysters. 0:06:09.074,0:06:11.034 Another example are corals. 0:06:11.232,0:06:14.413 They also need these carbonate[br]ions in seawater 0:06:14.438,0:06:18.343 to make their coral structure[br]in order to build coral reefs. 0:06:19.667,0:06:21.857 As ocean acidity increases 0:06:22.079,0:06:25.309 and the concentration[br]of carbonate ions decrease, 0:06:25.762,0:06:30.222 these species first find it more difficult[br]to make their shells. 0:06:30.531,0:06:34.340 And at even even lower levels,[br]they can actually begin to dissolve. 0:06:36.215,0:06:39.278 This here is a pteropod,[br]it's called a sea butterfly. 0:06:39.516,0:06:42.690 And it's an important food source[br]in the ocean for many species, 0:06:42.952,0:06:46.475 from krill to salmon right up to whales. 0:06:47.788,0:06:51.302 The shell of the pteropod[br]was placed into seawater 0:06:51.327,0:06:54.747 at a pH that we're expecting[br]by the end of this century. 0:06:56.504,0:07:01.996 After only 45 days[br]at this very realistic pH, 0:07:02.340,0:07:06.482 you can see the shell[br]has almost completely dissolved. 0:07:08.355,0:07:12.489 So ocean acidification could affect[br]right up through the food chain -- 0:07:12.624,0:07:14.735 and right onto our dinner plates. 0:07:15.274,0:07:18.916 I mean who here[br]likes shellfish? Or salmon? 0:07:19.482,0:07:21.110 Or many other fish species 0:07:21.135,0:07:23.978 whose food source[br]in the ocean could be affected? 0:07:26.926,0:07:28.773 These are cold-water corals. 0:07:28.912,0:07:32.445 And did you know we actually have[br]cold-water corals in Irish waters, 0:07:32.470,0:07:34.317 just off our continental shelf? 0:07:34.823,0:07:38.942 And they support rich biodiversity,[br]including some very important fisheries. 0:07:40.356,0:07:43.443 It's projected that[br]by the end of this century, 0:07:43.526,0:07:49.490 70 percent of all known cold-water corals[br]in the entire ocean 0:07:50.077,0:07:54.771 will be surrounded by seawater[br]that is dissolving their coral structure. 0:07:58.350,0:08:02.008 The last example I have[br]are these healthy tropical corals. 0:08:02.572,0:08:07.320 They were placed in seawater at a pH[br]we're expecting by the year 2100. 0:08:08.984,0:08:14.498 After six months, the coral[br]has almost completely dissolved. 0:08:15.670,0:08:18.035 Now coral reefs support 0:08:18.106,0:08:24.633 25 percent of all marine life[br]in the entire ocean. 0:08:25.370,0:08:26.520 All marine life. 0:08:27.568,0:08:31.893 So you can see: ocean[br]acidification is a global threat. 0:08:33.138,0:08:35.260 I have an eight-month-old baby boy. 0:08:36.080,0:08:39.937 Unless we start now to slow this down, 0:08:40.102,0:08:44.468 I dread to think what our oceans[br]will look like when he's a grown man. 0:08:45.800,0:08:47.768 We will see acidification. 0:08:47.930,0:08:52.170 We have already put too much[br]carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. 0:08:53.130,0:08:55.812 But we can slow this down. 0:08:56.196,0:09:00.572 We can prevent the worst-case scenario. 0:09:00.850,0:09:03.034 The only way of doing that 0:09:03.113,0:09:06.417 is by reducing our[br]carbon dioxide emissions. 0:09:07.110,0:09:11.516 This is important for both you and I,[br]for industry, for governments. 0:09:11.700,0:09:15.755 We need to work together,[br]slow down ocean acidification 0:09:15.977,0:09:18.855 and then we can slow down global warming 0:09:18.911,0:09:21.529 slow down ocean acidification, 0:09:21.580,0:09:26.313 and help to maintain a healthy ocean[br]and a healthy planet 0:09:26.339,0:09:29.630 for our generation[br]and for generations to come. 0:09:31.624,0:09:36.127 (Applause)