Human risk to ocean acidification

Abstract

Ocean acidification is a global phenomenon generated from increased anthropogenic carbon dioxide emissions. Increased rates of ocean acidification are projected to drastically alter marine and coastal ecosystems. Human communities are intrinsically linked to ocean acidification, both as the main drivers of the process and as a particularly vulnerable party to its expected effects. As part of a larger project that aims to highlight global hotspots of vulnerability to ocean acidification, this paper explores the concept of characterizing and measuring the socioeconomic, cultural, and political forces that influence human vulnerability. This paper offers a concise overview of vulnerability, sensitivity, and adaptive capacity as they relate to ocean acidification, and provides a comparison of five vulnerability studies to explore commonalities between vulnerability framework methodologies. This paper also provides a detailed review of the collection and initial analysis of variables considered in determining which human communities are most at risk from ocean acidification.