Ocean acidification’s human impact

The federal plan to research ocean acidification should focus on social issues, a review of the program suggests.

A review of efforts by the National Research Council led by Stanford University’s Hopkins Marine Station finds the impact of the council’s report would be most meaningful if it focused on how ocean acidification will affect people and the global economy, according to The Daily Climate.

Acidification is a problem associated with greenhouse-gas emissions involving the absorption of carbon dioxide into the world’s oceans, raising acidity levels and putting many marine species—particularly corals and shellfish—at risk.

“Social issues clearly can’t drive everything, but when it’s possible, they should,” said George Somero, chairman of the committee that wrote the report. “If you’re setting up a monitoring station, it should be where there’s a shellfish industry, for example.”