Reduce CO2 emissions or watch our marine life suffer

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Reduce CO2 emissions or watch our marine life suffer. That’s the ultimatum delivered last week by a group of over 150 scientists from 26 countries, who said in a statement that “severe damages are imminent” if something is not done to stop ocean acidification.

The statement, dubbed the Monaco Declaration, is a summary of the deliberations of the Second International Symposium on the Ocean in a High CO2 World, held in Monaco in October last year. In it, the group explains that:

The surface ocean currently absorbs about one-fourth of the CO2 emitted to the atmosphere from human activities, namely from fossil-fuel combustion, deforestation, and cement production. As this CO2 dissolves in seawater, it forms carbonic acid, increasing ocean acidity. Since industrialization began in the 18th century, surface-ocean acidity has increased by 30%.

This increase is now threatening the survival of coral reefs, shellfish and other marine organisms, the group claims. In fact, they issued a dire warning that if policymakers fail to make changes then by 2050 “ocean acidification may render most regions chemically inhospitable to coral reefs.”

The group urged policymakers to address the problem by promoting research into acidification, building links between economists and scientists to evaluate the costs of “action versus inaction,” improving communication between policymakers and scientists and developing urgent plans to “cut emissions drastically.”

Want to save the environment? Have less kids. Environmentalist Jonathon Porritt has labelled couples who have more than two children as environmentally “irresponsible.”

Porritt, who heads up the UK Government’s Sustainable Development Commission, says reducing population growth is an important part of plans to combat global warming, The Times reports.

“I am unapologetic about asking people to connect up their own responsibility for their total environmental footprint and how they decide to procreate and how many children they think are appropriate,” he said.

Flushed away. The NSW Government has cooked up a rebate scheme to eliminate single-flush toilets. The $16 million scheme, which looks to replace old toilets with newer dual-flush models, should save 500 million litres of drinking water a year, the Sydney Morning Herald reports.

The Herald says that under the scheme, “Sydney Water customers will be able to save up to $200 for every toilet, depending on the new model they choose.”

Single-flush loos apparently use about 12 litres of water per flush, while dual-flush models use about a third of that.

Leave this world in an eco-friendly way. People concerned about the environmental impact of their own death will be pleased to hear about the latest trend in burial practices: ‘Green’ cemeteries. A new cemetery, opening in Washington this week, is set to become the eleventh certified green burial ground in the USA, seattlepi.com reports. Others have opened in Australia. The Lismore City Council opened the Bushland Cemetery in July 2008, green burials are available in Canberra and another cemetary has been proposed in South Australia.

The carbon neutral burial grounds don’t use mausoleums, headstones, or even traditional coffins. Instead, people are buried wrapped in cotton shrouds or in biodegradable coffins made from plantation timber, woven wicker or cardboard. Relatives are given GPS coordinates in order to locate graves.

The environmentally friendly burials are proving popular as a way to avoid the air pollution caused by cremation.