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.
Da li ikada razmišljate o tome koliko su okeani važni u našem svakodnevnom životu? Okeani prekrivaju dve trećine naše planete. Daju polovinu kiseonika koji udišemo. Ublažavaju nam klimu. Obezbeđuju i poslove, lekove i hranu, uključujući 20 odsto proteina za prehranu celokupne svetske populacije. Ljudi su ranije mislili da su okeani toliko ogromni da na njih neće uticati ljudske aktivnosti.
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.
Pa, danas ću vam govoriti o ozbiljnoj realnosti koja menja naše okeane, a zove se acidifikacija okeana ili zli blizanac klimatskih promena. Da li ste znali da okeani apsorbuju 25 procenata celokupnog ugljen-dioksida koji oslobađamo u atmosferu? To je samo još jedna sjajna usluga koju pružaju okeani, jer je ugljen-dioksid jedan od gasova staklene bašte koji izazivaju klimatske promene. Ali kako nastavljamo da pumpamo sve više i više ugljen-dioksida u atmosferu, više ga se rastvara u okeanima, a to je ono što menja hemiju naših okeana. Kada se ugljen-dioksid rastvara u morskoj vodi, prolazi kroz niz hemijskih 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 po vas, danas nemam vremena da ulazim u detalje vezane za hemiju, ali reći ću vam da, što više ugljen-dioksida ulazi u okean, pH vrednost morske vode opada. To u suštini znači da postoji povećanje kiselosti okeana. Čitav ovaj proces naziva se acidifikacija okeana i dešava se uporedo sa klimatskim promenama. Naučnici prate acidifikaciju okeana više od dve decenije. Ove brojke predstavljaju važan vremenski niz sa Havaja i gornja linija pokazuje stalno povećanje koncentracija ugljen-dioksida, ili gasa CO2, u atmosferi. Ovo direktno nastaje kao rezultat ljudskih aktivnosti. Linija ispod pokazuje porast koncentracije ugljen-dioksida koji se rastvara na površini okeana, što možete videti da raste istom brzinom kao i ugljen-dioksid u atmosferi otkad su merenja otpočela. Linija na dnu zatim pokazuje promenu u hemiji. Što je više ugljen-dioksida ulazilo u okean, pH vrednost morske vode je opadala, što u suštini znači da je došlo do porasta kiselosti okeana. Naučnici u Irskoj takođe prate acidifikaciju okeana - naučnici na Morskom institutu i Nacionalnom irskom univerzitetu u Galveju. Mi takođe uočavamo acidifikaciju iste brzine kao i ovi glavni vremenski nizovi u okeanima širom sveta. Dakle, ovo se dešava na našem pragu.
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 htela da vam dam primer načina na koji prikupljamo podatke da bismo pratili promene u okeanu. Najpre prikupljamo veliki deo naših uzoraka usred zime. Kao što možete pretpostaviti, na Severnom Atlantiku nas pogađaju ozbiljne oluje, tako da ovo nije za one među vama koji dobijaju morsku bolest, ali prikupljamo vrlo vredne podatke. Spuštamo ovaj instrument sa strane broda i tu su senzori koji su postavljeni na dnu koji nam mogu dati informacije o okolnoj vodi, kao što su podaci o temperaturi ili rastvorenom kiseoniku. Onda možemo prikupiti uzorke morske vode u ovim velikim bocama. Počinjemo sa dna, što može biti na dubini od preko četiri kilometara tik od našeg kontinentalnog praga, i uzimamo uzorke u pravilnim intervalima sve do površine. Donesemo morsku vodu na palubu, a zatim je možemo analizirati ili na brodu ili nazad u laboratoriji u pogledu raznih hemijskih parametara.
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.
Ali zašto bi nas bilo briga? Kako će acidifikacija okeana uticati na sve nas? Pa, evo zabrinjavajućih činjenica. Već je došlo do povećanja kiselosti okeana od 26 procenata od preindustrijskog vremena, što je direktno posledica ljudskih aktivnosti. Ukoliko ne počnemo da smanjujemo ispuštanje ugljen-dioksida, očekujemo povećanje kiselosti okeana od 170 procenata do kraja ovog veka. Mislim, ovo obuhvata živote naše dece. Ova stopa acidifikacije je 10 puta brža nego ijedna acidifikacija u našim okeanima tokom više od 55 miliona godina. Dakle, život u našim morima nikada ranije nije prolazio kroz promene tako velikom brzinom, tako da bukvalno nismo mogli da znamo kako će se sa tim izboriti.
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.
Dogodila se prirodna acidifikacija pre više miliona godina koja je bila mnogo sporija od onoga što uočavamo danas, a to se poklopilo sa masovnim izumiranjem mnogih morskih vrsta. Dakle, da li smo se u tom pravcu uputili? Pa, možda. Studije pokazuju da neke vrste zapravo dobro funkcionišu, ali mnoge pokazuju negativnu reakciju. Jedna od stvari koje veoma zabrinjavaju je što, dok se povećava kiselost okeana, smanjuje se koncentracija karbonatnih jona u morskoj vodi. Ovi joni su u suštini gradivni materijal za mnoge morske vrste, za izgradnju njihovih ljuštura, na primer, kod kraba ili školjki, ostriga.
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.
Još jedan primer su korali. Njima su takođe potrebni ovi karbonatni joni u morskoj vodi za stvaranje koralne strukture kako bi izgradili koralne grebene. Kako se kiselost okeana povećava i koncentracija karbonatnih jona smanjuje, ovim vrstama je teže da proizvedu svoje omotače. Čak i na nižim nivoima mogu početi da se rastvaraju.
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?
Ovo ovde je pteropod; zove se morski leptir. To je važan izvor hrane u okeanu za mnoge vrste, od račića do lososa, pa sve do kitova. Ljuštura pteropode je stavljena u morsku vodu sa pH vrednošću koju očekujemo do kraja ovog veka. Nakon svega 45 dana na ovoj veoma realističnoj pH vrednosti, možete videti da se ljuštura skoro potpuno rastvorila. Dakle, acidifikacija okeana može uticati direktno kroz lanac ishrane - i pravo na naš tanjir. Mislim, ko ovde voli školjke? Ili lososa? Ili mnoge druge vrste riba čiji bi izvor hrane u okeanu mogao bio pogođen?
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.
Ovo su hladnovodni korali. A da li ste znali da zaista imamo hladnovodne korale u irskim vodama, nedaleko od našeg kontinentalnog praga? Oni podržavaju bogatu bioraznolikost, uključujući neka važna ribolovna područja. Predviđa se da će do kraja ovog veka 70 posto svih poznatih hladnovodnih korala u celom okeanu biti okruženo morskom vodom koja rastvara njihovu koralnu strukturu. Poslednji primer koji imam su ovi zdravi tropski korali. Oni su stavljeni u morsku vodu na pH vrednosti koju očekujemo do 2100. godine. Nakon šest meseci, koral se skoro potpuno rastvorio. Koralni grebeni podržavaju 25 posto celokupnog morskog života u čitavom okeanu. Celokupnog morskog života.
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.
Dakle, možete uvideti, acidifikacija okeana je globalna pretnja. Imam dečaka starog osam meseci. Osim ako ne počnemo da usporavamo ovo sada, bojim se da razmišljam o tome kako će naši okeani izgledati kada on bude odrasli čovek. Videćemo acidifikaciju. Već smo ispustili previše ugljen-dioksida u atmosferu. Ali možemo ovo usporiti. Možemo sprečiti najgori scenario. Jedini način da to uradimo je smanjenje naše emisije ugljen-dioksida. Ovo je važno i za vas i mene, za industriju, za vlasti.
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 da radimo zajedno, da usporimo globalno zagrevanje, usporimo acidifikaciju okeana i pomognemo da se održi zdrav okean i zdrava planeta za našu generaciju i buduće generacije.
(Applause)
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