Miles and Bradbury (2009) indicated that three challenges
confront governments in responding to ocean acidification: 1)
uncertainty in its effects; 2) decadal to centennial timescales in
which effects may occur, with the effects only beginning to be
observed towards the latter part of the twenty-first century; and
3) difficulty agreeing to a shared solution amongst nations, since
the policies of any one nation cannot resolve ocean acidification
alone. The response of global governments to address ocean
acidification can be broken down into prevention and adaptation
(Warren 2009). Prevention refers to a need to reduce carbon
dioxide emissions to the atmosphere. Adaptation refers to a
need to prepare humans and accommodate ecosystems for the
effects of ocean acidification. In practice, both prevention and
adaptation are required, since even a reduction in carbon dioxide
emissions to the atmosphere today will not halt the effects of
ocean acidification to come over the next few centuries.