Year: 2019
Type: article
Abstract: As living carbonate-based structures, coral reefs are highly vulnerable to ocean acidification. The Great Barrier Reef (GBR) is the largest continuous coral reef system in the world. Its economic, social, and icon assets are valued at AU$56 billion (Deloitte Access Economics, 2017), owing to its vast biodiversity and services related to commercial and recreational fisheries, shoreline protection, and reef-related tourism and recreation. Ocean acidification poses a significant risk to these ecological and socioeconomic services, threatening not only the structural foundation of the GBR but the livelihoods of reef-dependent sectors of society. To assess the vulnerabilities of the GBR to ocean acidification, we review the characteristics of the GBR and the current valuation and factors affecting potential losses across three major areas of socioeconomic concern: fisheries, shoreline protection, and reef-related tourism and recreation. We then discuss potential solutions, both conventional and unconventional, for mitigating ocean acidification impacts on the GBR and propose a suite of actions that would help assess and increase the region’s preparedness for the effects of ocean acidification.
Institutions: Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Ifremer, The University of Queensland, Duke University, World Wildlife Fund, Institut Universitaire Européen de la Mer, AMURE - Centre de droit et d'économie de la mer, ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, California Academy of Sciences, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, CSIRO Land and Water, James Cook University, UN Environment Programme World Conservation Monitoring Centre, International Atomic Energy Agency
Language: English
Subfield: Oceanography
Field: Earth and Planetary Sciences
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
Estimated APC paid: $1,800
OpenAlex ID: W2961363476