Ocean Acidification: a review of the current status of research and institutional developments

Ocean acidification is defined as the change in ocean chemistry driven by the oceanic uptake of chemical inputs to the atmosphere, including carbon, nitrogen and sulphur compounds. Ocean acidification is also referred to as ‘the other CO2 problem’ of anthropogenic carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions alongside climate change. Ocean acidification has become a hot topic on the international research agenda, whereby most publications are less than a decade old. Ocean acidification has also become an emerging topic on the international policy agenda. UNESCO supported the first global meeting on ocean acidification in 2004 and in 2007 the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) first recognized ocean acidification in its 4th assessment report as an associated disturbance of climate change caused by increasing CO2 emission. Recommendations to get ocean acidification on the Dutch policy agenda are to focus on important economic activities such as fisheries and aquaculture and on vulnerable habitats such as deltas and coral reefs