EPOCA’s goal is to document ocean acidification, investigate its impact on biological processes, predict its consequences over the next 100 years, and advise policy-makers on potential thresholds or tipping points that should not be exceeded. The project is coordinated by Jean-Pierre Gattuso, a CNRS researcher at the Oceanography Laboratory at Villefranche-sur-mer, and brings together a consortium of 27 partners, including CNRS and the French Atomic Energy Agency (CEA), from 9 countries. Many of the leading oceanographic institutions across Europe and more than 100 permanent scientists are involved. The budget is 16.5 million Euro over 4 years, including 6.5 million Euro from the European Commission.
Over 71% of the Earth’s surface is covered by the oceans, which are home to an incredibly diverse flora and fauna. They play a key role in regulating the climate and levels of carbon dioxide (CO2), one of the main greenhouse gases. Over the last 200 years (since the beginning of the industrial revolution), the oceans have absorbed about one third of the carbon dioxide produced by human activities, a total of 120 billion tons. Without this absorption, the amount of CO2 present in the atmosphere and its effects on the climate would undoubtedly be far greater.
In fact, over 25 million tons of CO2 dissolve in seawater every day. However, the oceans do not escape unscathed. When CO2 dissolves in sea water, it causes the formation of carbonic acid, which leads to a fall in pH (the pH scale is used to measure acidity(2)). This change is called “ocean acidification” and is happening at a rate that has not been experienced probably for the last 20 million years.
The effects of this huge input of CO2 into the oceans only began to be studied in the late 1990s(3) and are still poorly understood. One of the most likely consequences will be slower growth of organisms with calcareous skeletons, such as corals, mollusks, algae, etc. Obtaining more information about ocean acidification is a major environmental priority because of the threat it poses to certain species and ecosystems.
EPOCA should help us to understand the effects of the acidification of sea water as well as its impact on marine organisms and ecosystems.