"Fascinating visit to Bermuda ocean research centre."

It reads like an entry in a holiday journal, but these were the thoughts of UK Foreign Secretary David Miliband this week after a visit to the Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences (BIOS).

It seems Mr. Miliband is such a fan of the mid-Atlantic oceanography institute, he has now added BIOS to a social networking site.

Updating his Twitter page, Mr. Miliband wrote on Wednesday: "Fascinating visit to Bermuda ocean research centre. Ocean acidification is real just like global warming. Check www.bios.edu."

Mr. Miliband may be more used to diplomatic wrangles and forays into war zones than exploring sub-tropical waters, but even in Bermuda the Cabinet minister found weighty issues to dive into.

During a brief respite from the state engagements of the Royal Visit, Mr. Miliband did not head to the beach but to BIOS. Accompanied by Governor Sir Richard Gozney, he spent an hour chatting to scientists to get the latest update on CO 2 (carbon dioxide) emissions in the world's oceans.

BIOS has the longest continuous record of ocean observations in the world, with Hydrostation S (1954) and the Bermuda Atlantic Time Series (BATS) (1984). It is therefore an authority on CO 2 measurements and ocean acidification.

Its scientists contributed to the 2007 IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) Report and are now at the forefront of research to be submitted to COP15.

The Foreign Secretary's visit to BIOS on Wednesday armed him with all he needed to push the issue of ocean acidification onto the green agenda on his return to the UK.

And with just over a week to go until COP15 the United Nations Climate Change Conference, the latest update from the scientists is sure to be a topic of conversation with his brother, Ed.

Ed Miliband is the UK Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change. He recently told the British press the world "must push for a substantial, comprehensive deal" to cut carbon emissions at COP15.

BIOS president and director Dr. Anthony Knap said David Miliband had taken a keen interest in the scientists' latest findings during his visit.

"We were able to provide Mr. Miliband with the latest information on climate change and update him on ocean acidification," said Dr. Knap.

'We gave him some new graphs which he could use in a presentation and details of websites holding the latest information. He was very interested."

Mr. Miliband was given a tour of the institute and then a demonstration of the effects of CO 2 on corals and marine organisms, using a scooter.

He then sat down with Dr. Knap and fellow scientists Gerry Plumley, Nick Bates, Samantha de Putron, Andreas Andersson and Mike Lomas to discuss ocean acidification.

"The issues are completely independent of global sea level rise and temperature rise," said Dr. Knap. "A lot of people talk about climate change but don't realise that the ocean is actually a major sink and repository for CO 2."