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Do you ever think about how important[br]the oceans are in our daily lives?

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The oceans cover two-thirds of our planet.

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They provide half the oxygen we breathe.

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They moderate our climate.

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And they provide jobs[br]and medicine and food

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including 20 percent of protein[br]to feed the entire world population.

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People used to think[br]that the oceans were so vast

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that they wouldn't be affected[br]by human activities.

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Well today I'm going to tell you[br]about a serious reality

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that is changing our oceans[br]called ocean acidification,

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or the evil twin of climate change.

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Did you know that the oceans have absorbed[br]25 percent of all of the carbon dioxide

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that we have emitted to the atmosphere?

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Now this is just another great service[br]provided by the oceans

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since carbon dioxide[br]is one of the greenhouse gases

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that's causing climate change.

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But as we keep pumping[br]more and more and more

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carbon dioxide into the atmosphere

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more is dissolving into the oceans.

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And this is what's changing[br]our ocean chemistry.

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When carbon dioxide dissolves in seawater,

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it undergoes a number[br]of chemical reactions.

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Now lucky for you,

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I don't have time to get into[br]the details of the chemistry for today.

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But I'll tell you as more[br]carbon dioxide enters the ocean,

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the seawater pH goes down.

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And this basically means that there[br]is an increase in ocean acidity.

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And this whole process[br]is called ocean acidification.

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And it's happening[br]alongside climate change.

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Scientists have been monitoring[br]ocean acidification for over two decades.

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This figure is an important[br]time series in Hawaii,

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and the top line shows steadily increasing[br]concentrations of carbon dioxide,

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or CO2 gas, in the atmosphere.

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And this is directly as a result[br]of human activities.

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The line underneath shows the increasing[br]concentrations of carbon dioxide

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that is dissolved[br]in the surface of the ocean

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which you can see is increasing[br]at the same rate

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as carbon dioxide in the atmosphere[br]since measurements began.

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The line on the bottom shows[br]then shows the change in chemistry.

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As more carbon dioxide[br]has entered the ocean,

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the seawater pH has gone down,

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which basically means there has been[br]an increase in ocean acidity.

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Now in Ireland, scientists are also[br]monitoring ocean acidification --

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scientists at the Marine[br]Institute and NUI Galway.

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And we, too, are seeing[br]acidification at the same rate

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as these main ocean time-series[br]sites around the world.

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So it's happening right at our doorstep.

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Now I'd like to give you an example[br]of just how we collect our data

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to monitor a changing ocean.

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Firstly we collect a lot of our samples[br]in the middle of winter.

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So as you can imagine,[br]in the North Atlantic

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we get hit with some seriously[br]stormy conditions --

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so not for any of you[br]who get a little motion sickness,

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but we are collecting[br]some very valuable data.

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So we lower this instrument[br]over the side of the ship,

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and there are sensors[br]that are mounted on the bottom

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that can tell us information about[br]the surrounding water,

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such as temperature[br]or dissolved oxygen.

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And then we can collect our seawater[br]samples in these large bottles.

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So we start at the bottom,[br]which can be over four kilometers deep

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just off our continental shelf,

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and we take samples at regular intervals[br]right up to the surface.

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We take the seawater back on the deck,

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and then we can either[br]analyze them on the ship

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or back in the laboratory[br]for the different chemicals parameters.

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But why should we care?

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How is ocean acidification[br]going to affect all of us?

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Well, here are the worrying facts.

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There has already been an increase[br]in ocean acidity of 26 percent

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since pre-industrial times,[br]which is directly due to human activities.

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Unless we can start slowing down[br]our carbon dioxide emissions,

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we're expecting an increase[br]in ocean acidity of 170 percent

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by the end of this century.

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I mean this is within[br]our children's lifetime.

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This rate of acidification[br]is 10 times faster

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than any acidification in our oceans[br]for over 55 million years.

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So our marine life have never,[br]ever experienced

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such a fast rate of change before.

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So we literally could not know[br]how they're going to cope.

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Now there was a natural acidification[br]event millions of years ago,

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which was much slower[br]than what we're seeing today.

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And this coincided with a mass extinction[br]of many marine species.

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So is that what we're headed for?

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Well, maybe.

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Studies are showing[br]some species are actually doing quite well

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but many are showing a negative response.

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One of the big concerns is[br]as ocean acidity increases,

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the concentration of carbonate[br]ions in seawater decrease.

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Now these ions are basically[br]the building blocks

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for many marine species[br]to make their shells,

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for example crabs or mussels, oysters.

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Another example are corals.

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They also need these carbonate[br]ions in seawater

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to make their coral structure[br]in order to build coral reefs.

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As ocean acidity increases

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and the concentration[br]of carbonate ions decrease,

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these species first find it more difficult[br]to make their shells.

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And at even even lower levels,[br]they can actually begin to dissolve.

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This here is a pteropod,[br]it's called a sea butterfly.

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And it's an important food source[br]in the ocean for many species,

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from krill to salmon right up to whales.

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The shell of the pteropod[br]was placed into seawater

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at a pH that we're expecting[br]by the end of this century.

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After only 45 days[br]at this very realistic pH,

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you can see the shell[br]has almost completely dissolved.

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So ocean acidification could affect[br]right up through the food chain --

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and right onto our dinner plates.

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I mean who here[br]likes shellfish? Or salmon?

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Or many other fish species

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whose food source[br]in the ocean could be affected?

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These are cold-water corals.

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And did you know we actually have[br]cold-water corals in Irish waters,

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just off our continental shelf?

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And they support rich biodiversity,[br]including some very important fisheries.

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It's projected that[br]by the end of this century,

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70 percent of all known cold-water corals[br]in the entire ocean

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will be surrounded by seawater[br]that is dissolving their coral structure.

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The last example I have[br]are these healthy tropical corals.

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They were placed in seawater at a pH[br]we're expecting by the year 2100.

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After six months, the coral[br]has almost completely dissolved.

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Now coral reefs support

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25 percent of all marine life[br]in the entire ocean.

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All marine life.

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So you can see: ocean[br]acidification is a global threat.

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I have an eight-month-old baby boy.

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Unless we start now to slow this down,

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I dread to think what our oceans[br]will look like when he's a grown man.

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We will see acidification.

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We have already put too much[br]carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.

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But we can slow this down.

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We can prevent the worst-case scenario.

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The only way of doing that

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is by reducing our[br]carbon dioxide emissions.

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This is important for both you and I,[br]for industry, for governments.

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We need to work together,[br]slow down global warming

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slow down ocean acidification

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and help to maintain a healthy ocean[br]and a healthy planet

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for our generation[br]and for generations to come.

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(Applause)