ABSTRACT
Global warming and increased atmospheric CO2 are causing the oceans to become warmer and acidify (IPCC 2007). Uptake of CO2 is predicted to decrease ocean pH by 0.2 to 0.4 units and increase sea surface temperature by ca. 2°C by 2100 (Feely et al. 2004; IPCC 2007, Fabry et al. 2008; but see Whooten et al. 2008). For the Echinodermata a high pCO2 ocean has negative impacts on growth, reproduction and development due to direct effects on metabolism (hypercapnia) and decreased bioavailabilty of the carbonate ions needed for skeleton formation (Fabry et al. 2008, Pörtner 2008; Widdecome & Spicer 2008). Increased temperature affects everything an organism does through its pervasive physiological impact on all biological functions. Our understanding of the impacts of ocean warming, acidification and hypercapnia is impeded by the scarcity of empirical data and that many studies use stressor levels well beyond values predicted by climate change models (Reviews: Przeslawski et al. 2008; Fabry et al. 2008; Dupont & Thorndyke 2009).
