Arctic Ocean records acidification due to melting sea ice

An international group led by Chinese scientists has revealed that the Arctic Ocean is experiencing much faster acidification than in other parts of the world’s open oceans due to melting sea ice there.

The study published Friday in the journal Science shows that acidification rates in the western Arctic Ocean are three to four times faster than in other ocean basins.

An increase in human-induced carbon dioxide resulted in more acidic seawater and a less saturated calcium carbonate mineral, a process called ocean acidification.

The team led by researchers from Jimei University’s Institute of Polar and Marine Research synthesized ocean carbonate data from 47 research cruises across the Arctic Ocean from 1994 to 2020 to investigate how the Arctic Ocean carbon cycle responds to climate change.

They found that, due to climate change and subsequent retreat of sea ice, a larger area of seawater, which was initially covered by ice, has been exposed to the atmosphere, promoting rapid absorption of atmospheric CO2, leading to drastic ocean acidification and reducing ocean buffering capacity.

They predicted a further decrease in pH at higher latitudes where sea ice retreat is active, highlighting the urgency of reducing carbon emissions to preserve the Arctic ecosystem.

“Ocean acidification can have a catastrophic impact on marine life such as clams, mussels and shell, which are the staple food for Arctic salmon and herring,” said Qi Di, a professor at Jimei University and first author of the paper.

Source: Revoluciona