Do you ever think about how important the oceans are in our daily lives? The oceans cover two-thirds of our planet. They provide half the oxygen we breathe. They moderate our climate. And they provide jobs and medicine and food including 20 percent of protein to feed the entire world population. People used to think that the oceans were so vast that they wouldn't be affected by human activities.
Razmišljate li ikada kako su oceani važni za naš svakodnevni život? Oceani zauzimaju dvije trećine našeg planeta. Oni proizvode polovicu kisika kojeg udišemo. Oni modeliraju našu klimu. I daju poslove, lijekove i hranu, uključujući 20 posto proteina za prehranu ukupne ljudske populacije. Ljudi su mislili da su oceani toliko veliki da neće biti pogođeni ljudskom aktivnošću.
Well today I'm going to tell you about a serious reality that is changing our oceans called ocean acidification, or the evil twin of climate change. Did you know that the oceans have absorbed 25 percent of all of the carbon dioxide that we have emitted to the atmosphere? Now this is just another great service provided by the oceans since carbon dioxide is one of the greenhouse gases that's causing climate change. But as we keep pumping more and more and more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere more is dissolving into the oceans. And this is what's changing our ocean chemistry. When carbon dioxide dissolves in seawater, it undergoes a number of chemical reactions.
Danas ću vam pričati o ozbiljnoj stvarnosti koja mijenja naše oceane, zvano oceansko zakiseljavanje, ili zli blizanac klimatskih promjena. Znate li da je ocean apsorbirao 25 posto ukupnog ugljikovog dioksida kojeg smo ispustili u atmosferu? To je samo još jedna dobra stvar kod oceana jer je ugljikov dioksid jedan od stakleničkih plinova koji uzrokuje klimatske promjene. Kako mi i dalje ispuštamo sve više, više i više ugljikovog dioksida u atmosferu, sve više ga biva otopljeno u oceanima. I to je ono što mijenja kemijski sastav oceana. Kada se ugljikov dioksid otopi u morskoj vodi, prolazi kroz niz kemijskih reakcija.
Now lucky for you, I don't have time to get into the details of the chemistry for today. But I'll tell you as more carbon dioxide enters the ocean, the seawater pH goes down. And this basically means that there is an increase in ocean acidity. And this whole process is called ocean acidification. And it's happening alongside climate change. Scientists have been monitoring ocean acidification for over two decades. This figure is an important time series in Hawaii, and the top line shows steadily increasing concentrations of carbon dioxide, or CO2 gas, in the atmosphere. And this is directly as a result of human activities. The line underneath shows the increasing concentrations of carbon dioxide that is dissolved in the surface of the ocean which you can see is increasing at the same rate as carbon dioxide in the atmosphere since measurements began. The line on the bottom shows then shows the change in chemistry. As more carbon dioxide has entered the ocean, the seawater pH has gone down, which basically means there has been an increase in ocean acidity. Now in Ireland, scientists are also monitoring ocean acidification -- scientists at the Marine Institute and NUI Galway. And we, too, are seeing acidification at the same rate as these main ocean time-series sites around the world. So it's happening right at our doorstep.
Srećom za vas, danas nemam vremena ući u detalje kemije. Ali ću vam reći, što više ugljikovog dioksida uđe u ocean, pH morske vode opada. Ovo, u osnovi, znači da postoji porast kiselosti oceana. I ovaj proces se zove zakiseljavanje. I događa se zajedno s klimatskim promjenama. Znastvenici prate oceansko zakiseljavanje više od dva desetljeća. Ovo je važan vremenski niz na Hawaiima i gornja linija pokazuje stalni porast koncentracije ugljikovog dioksida, ili CO2 plina u atmosferi. I to je izravan rezultat ljudske aktivnosti. Linija ispod pokazuje porast koncentracije ugljikovog dioksida koji je otopljen na površini oceana, koji se, kao što možete vidjeti, povećava istom brzinom kao i ugljikov dioksid u atmosferi otkada su mjerenja započela. Donja linija pokazuje promjene u kemijskom sastavu. Što je više ugljikovog dioksida ušlo u ocean, to je pH morske vode više opao, što, u osnovici, znači da je došlo do povećanja oceanske kiselosti. U Irskoj, znanstvenici također prate oceansko zakiseljavanje, znastvenici Oceanografskog instituta i NUI Galway. I također možemo vidjeti kiselost po istoj stopi, kao i one dobivene mjerenjima oceana u stanicama diljem svijeta. Sve se to događa točno ispred nas.
Now I'd like to give you an example of just how we collect our data to monitor a changing ocean. Firstly we collect a lot of our samples in the middle of winter. So as you can imagine, in the North Atlantic we get hit with some seriously stormy conditions -- so not for any of you who get a little motion sickness, but we are collecting some very valuable data. So we lower this instrument over the side of the ship, and there are sensors that are mounted on the bottom that can tell us information about the surrounding water, such as temperature or dissolved oxygen. And then we can collect our seawater samples in these large bottles. So we start at the bottom, which can be over four kilometers deep just off our continental shelf, and we take samples at regular intervals right up to the surface. We take the seawater back on the deck, and then we can either analyze them on the ship or back in the laboratory for the different chemicals parameters.
Sada bih vam htjela dati primjer kako mi prikupljamo naše podatke za praćenje promjene oceana. Prvo prikupljamo puno uzoraka sredinom zime. Kao što možete zamisliti, u Sjevernom Atlantiku znamo biti zahvaćeni ozbiljnim olujama, tako da to nije za vas koji imate morsku bolest, ali prikupljamo neke vrlo značajne podatke. Spuštamo ovaj instrument sa strane broda i tamo su senzori, montirani na dnu, koji nam mogu dati informacije o vodi kao što je temperatura ili otpušten kisik. I tada možemo prikupiti uzorke morske vode u ove velike boce. Počinjemo na dnu, što može biti duboko preko četiri kilometra dalje od naše kontinentalne obale, te uzimamo uzorke u pravilnim razmacima sve do površine. Morsku vodu dignemo na brod gdje je možemo ili analizirati na brodu, ili u laboratoriju za različite kemijske parametre.
But why should we care? How is ocean acidification going to affect all of us? Well, here are the worrying facts. There has already been an increase in ocean acidity of 26 percent since pre-industrial times, which is directly due to human activities. Unless we can start slowing down our carbon dioxide emissions, we're expecting an increase in ocean acidity of 170 percent by the end of this century. I mean this is within our children's lifetime. This rate of acidification is 10 times faster than any acidification in our oceans for over 55 million years. So our marine life have never, ever experienced such a fast rate of change before. So we literally could not know how they're going to cope.
A zašto bi nas to zanimalo? Kako će oceansko zakiseljavanje utjecati na sve nas? Tu su zabrinjavajuće činjenice. Već je došlo do povećanja kiselosti oceana za 26 posto od vremena prije industrije, koje je izravno povezano s ljudskom aktivnošću. Jedino ako ne smanjimo naše ispuštanje ugljikovog dioksida, očekujemo povećanje oceanske kiselosti za 170 posto do kralja stoljeća. Mislim, to je unutar razdoblja života naše djece. Ova stopa zakiseljavanja je 10 puta brža od bilo kojeg zakiseljavanja oceana tijekom više od 55 milijuna godina. Morski život nikada prije nije doživio toliko brzu stopu promjena. Tako da ne možemo ni znati kako će se to svladati.
Now there was a natural acidification event millions of years ago, which was much slower than what we're seeing today. And this coincided with a mass extinction of many marine species. So is that what we're headed for? Well, maybe. Studies are showing some species are actually doing quite well but many are showing a negative response. One of the big concerns is as ocean acidity increases, the concentration of carbonate ions in seawater decrease. Now these ions are basically the building blocks for many marine species to make their shells, for example crabs or mussels, oysters.
Postojalo je i prirodno zakiseljavanje milijunima godina prije, koje je bilo puno sporije od onoga što imamo danas. I ovo se podudara s masivnim izumiranjima mnogih morskih organizama. Je li to ono čemu stremimo? Možda. Istraživanja pokazuju kako je nekim vrstama, zapravo, dobro, ali mnoge pokazuju negativan odgovor. Kako kiselost oceana raste, jedna od velikih briga je što koncentracija karbonatnih iona u morskim vodama opada. Ti su ioni, u osnovici, gradivni blokovi za stvaranje oklopa mnogih morskih organizama, kao, na primjer, rakova, dagnji, kamenica.
Another example are corals. They also need these carbonate ions in seawater to make their coral structure in order to build coral reefs. As ocean acidity increases and the concentration of carbonate ions decrease, these species first find it more difficult to make their shells. And at even even lower levels, they can actually begin to dissolve.
Drugi primjer su koralji. Oni također trebaju karbonatne ione u morskoj vodi za izgradnju koraljnih struktura, to jest, stvaranje koraljnih grebena. Porastom kiselosti oceana i opadanjem koncentracije karbonatnih iona, ove vrste teže izgrađuju svoje oklope, a pri nižim razinama mogu se čak početi i otapati.
This here is a pteropod, it's called a sea butterfly. And it's an important food source in the ocean for many species, from krill to salmon right up to whales. The shell of the pteropod was placed into seawater at a pH that we're expecting by the end of this century. After only 45 days at this very realistic pH, you can see the shell has almost completely dissolved. So ocean acidification could affect right up through the food chain -- and right onto our dinner plates. I mean who here likes shellfish? Or salmon? Or many other fish species whose food source in the ocean could be affected?
Ovaj pteropod zove se morski leptir. Važan je izvor hrane za mnoge vrste u oceanu, od planktona do lososa pa sve do kitova. Oklop pteropoda stavljen je u morsku vodu, pH vrijednosti koju očekujemo do kraja ovog stoljeća. Nakon samo 45 dana pri ovoj realnoj pH vrijednosti, možemo vidjeti da je oklop gotovo u potpunosti otopljen. Znači, oceansko zakiseljavanje može utjecati na hranidbeni lanac i izravno na našu prehranu. Tko ovdje voli školjke? Ili lososa? Ili mnoge druge riblje vrste čiji izvori hrane mogu biti zahvaćeni.
These are cold-water corals. And did you know we actually have cold-water corals in Irish waters, just off our continental shelf? And they support rich biodiversity, including some very important fisheries. It's projected that by the end of this century, 70 percent of all known cold-water corals in the entire ocean will be surrounded by seawater that is dissolving their coral structure. The last example I have are these healthy tropical corals. They were placed in seawater at a pH we're expecting by the year 2100. After six months, the coral has almost completely dissolved. Now coral reefs support 25 percent of all marine life in the entire ocean. All marine life.
Tu su i koralji hladnih voda. Jeste li znali da mi u Irskoj, zapravo, imamo koralje hladnih voda dalje od kontinentalne obale? Oni podržavaju bogatu bioraznolikost, uključujući neke vrlo važne ribnjake. Pretpostavlja se da će do kraja ovog stoljeća, 70 posto svih poznatih koralja hladnih voda u cijelom oceanu biti okruženo morskom vodom koja otapa njihove koraljne strukture. Zadnji primjer kojeg imam su ovi zdravi tropski koralji. Stavljeni su u morsku vodu pH vrijednosti koja se očekuje do 2100. godine. Nakon šest mjeseci, koralji su se gotovo u potpunosti otopili. Koraljni grebeni održavaju 25 posto cijelog morskog života u oceanu. Ukupan morski život.
So you can see: ocean acidification is a global threat. I have an eight-month-old baby boy. Unless we start now to slow this down, I dread to think what our oceans will look like when he's a grown man. We will see acidification. We have already put too much carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. But we can slow this down. We can prevent the worst-case scenario. The only way of doing that is by reducing our carbon dioxide emissions. This is important for both you and I, for industry, for governments.
Kako možete vidjeti, oceansko zakiseljavanje je globalna prijetnja. Imam sina starog osam mjeseci. Ako ne počnemo usporavati cijeli ovaj proces, bojim se i pomisliti kako će naši oceani izgledati kada on bude odrastao muškarac. Vidjet ćemo posljedice zakiseljavanja. Već smo sada ispustili previše ugljikovog dioksida u atmosferu. Ali ovo možemo usporiti. Možemo spriječiti najgori mogući ishod. Jedini način kako to možemo je smanjiti ispuštanje ugljikovog dioksida. Ovo je jednako bitno kako za vas i mene, tako i za industriju i vladu.
We need to work together, slow down global warming slow down ocean acidification and help to maintain a healthy ocean and a healthy planet for our generation and for generations to come.
Moramo raditi zajedno, usporiti globalno zagrijavanje, usporiti oceansko zakiseljavanje i pomoći održavati čist ocean i čist planet za našu generaciju i za generacije koje dolaze.
(Applause)
(Pljesak)