The issue of ocean acidification must be at the negotiating climate, say scientists from around the world.

"Acidification of the oceans would cause massive corrosion of our coral reefs and dramatic changes in the constitution of the biodiversity of our oceans, and will have significant implications on food production and livelihoods of millions of people."

This warning was issued by the Royal Society, British Academy of Sciences and the academies of 69 other countries around the world, grouped in the InterAcademy Panel.

Martin Rees, President of the Royal Society, acknowledges that "everyone knows that increasing the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere leads to climate change."

"But it has other environmental effects, acidification of the oceans, which has not received much political attention," he warns. "Unless the global co2 emissions can be reduced by at least 50% in 2050 and more thereafter, we may be faced with a submarine disaster, with irreversible changes in the formation of biodiversity. effects will be visible in the world, threatening food security, reducing coastal protection and damaging local economies, which would be less able to bear it. Copenhagen must confront this threat very real and serious. "

In their statement, the academies call on world leaders to explicitly recognize the threats posed by rising emission of co2 in the oceans and its profound impact on the environment and society.

The document emphasizes the irreversible aspect of the phenomenon, and stresses that the current emissions trajectory, all the coral reefs and polar ecosystems will be severely affected in 2050 or before that date.