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NOAA Environmental Visualization Lab & LiveScience.com
Some U.S. coastal waters resist ocean acidification better than others.
By Tanya Lewis, LiveScience
Coastal regions around the United States respond differently to ocean acidification, a large-scale study finds.
In the new study, scientists from 11 U.S. institutions measured levels of carbon dioxide and other forms of carbon in waters off the East Coast and the Gulf of Mexico. If the same amount of carbon dioxide entered both the Gulf of Maine and the Gulf of Mexico, it would have a greater effect on the Gulf of Maine's ecosystem, the scientists found.
"Before now, we haven't had a very clear picture of acidification status on the East Coast of the U.S.," lead study author Zhaohui 'Aleck' Wang, a chemical oceanographer at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), said in a statement. "It's important that we start to understand it, because [an] increase in ocean acidity could deeply affect marine life along the coast and has important implications for people who rely on aquaculture and fisheries," Wang said.
Coastal ocean acidification occurs when excess carbon dioxide is absorbed by, washes into or is produced in coastal oceans, triggering chemical reactions that make the water more acidic. Species like oysters, snails and coral are disproportionally affected, because they cannot form their protective shells in highly acidic conditions.
The researchers set sail off of Galveston, Texas, and made their way past Louisiana, around Florida, and up the East Coast, collecting water samples between the coasts to as far as 300 miles offshore. They measured different forms of carbon and compared that with the water's total alkalinity (a measure of how basic it is, the opposite measure of acidity). The ratio of alkalinity to carbon tells scientists how well the water can resist, or "buffer," changes in acidity.
They found that the Gulf of Mexico waters, for the most part, were more resistant to acidification compared with more northern regions. The waters became less acid-resistant as the researchers moved north from Georgia, and the Gulf of Maine had the lowest ability of the entire Eastern Seaboard to resist acidification.
The results show that waters along the northeast U.S. coast are more susceptible to acidification than southern-facing regions of the country. It's not yet clear what's causing the greater susceptibility near Maine, but its cold ocean currents may be bringing fresh, low-alkalinity water south from the Labrador Sea, Wang said. If so, climate change could melt sea ice and glaciers and bring in more fresh water, though whether this would make the water more susceptible to acidification is unknown.
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Leave a Comment:
And what about the Pacific? There is an entire other coast they didn't even bother to mention. Myopic.
lol, an hour ago you didn't even know they were doing this study.
did you read the article? The whole study was about why different coastal areas would respnd differently.
Science is an ongoing process that begins by taking raw data. It usually takes several year's worth of data to begin to look for a positive correlation.
However, for the scientifically illiterate folks out there -- this DOES NOT mean we shouldn't try to find correlations.
At least Jory is making a valid point. You didn't know they were doing the study, and now you do, but your still as clueless as before...
Freshwater clams and snails build and maintain shells at a truly acidic pH of 6.5. Oysters are brackish water mollusks. Brackish water is a mix of ocean water and freshwater. The pH of brackish water can fluctuate widely depending on the mix. Calcium carbonate, the main component of mollusk shells, is relatively insoluble in water at a pH of 7.8 or more.
The decrease in the pH of ocean water is the natural consequence of the increase of CO2 in the atmosphere. The ocean by taking up the CO2 is slowing global warming caused by increasing CO2 levels. Like it or not, the climate is changing (warming) and every human contributes their share. Ultimately, the people who will contribute the most are those with the largest families, but it is not politically correct to promote zero population growth.
The oceans, mildly alkaline with typical pH = 8.2 – 8.5...
Consistent pH measurement data sets have only recently been made at very few locations (3) and for very few years. The problem is a lack of historical data. “100 times faster than natural variability” – if only natural variability were known)...
The Earths Oceans are dependent on Calcification to maintain its pH. Surface pH is dependent on; the atmosphere, local plant/animal life, temperature and pollution. At lower depths pH levels are dependent on the levels of deposited calcium on the ocean floor...
It is amusing to see this article does not even discuss the effects of Marine Sewage Outfalls and sediment run-off on coastal/LOCAL pH levels. Chicago reversed a river so they could dump their sewage into the Mississippi instead of the Great lakes...
Research the effects of sewage on the Australian & Thai reefs. The latest from these are; less than 5% damage due to temperature/pH changes and 95%+ due to sediment run-off from agriculture and urban resources, sewage and farming chemicals...
During the Triassic-Jurassic period, massive volcanism broke apart the super-continent of Pangaea (5% of Earths surface, the remainder was WATER) and spiked CO2 levels from 600 to more than 2,100 parts per million by volume. For comparison, the Earth’s CO2concentration is about 391 ppmv. Currently the Climate Scientist say that volcanoes do not contribute to Earths CO2 levels...
Just start dumping massive amounts of calcium carbonate into the ocean. Calcium carbonate is common and plentiful -- it's what we call marble -- and there are many thousands of tons of the stuff dumped yearly as waste by marble quarries around the world. Unfortunately, none of it gets anywhere near the ocean, since most of the quarries are in the mountains.
The Earths current surface is 70.8+% Oceans/water & 29.2% land or the Earth's surface is 510,300,000 km^2 of which 149,600,000 km^2 is land mass...
The total Ocean volume is approximately 1.3 billion cubic kilometres...
How much calcium carbonate are you going to use, to make a 1% change in the seawater pH???
Just remember - The carbonate compensation depth(CCD) is the point in the ocean where the rate of precipitation of calcium carbonate is balanced by the rate of dissolution due to the conditions present. Deep in the ocean, the temperature drops and pressure increases. Calcium carbonate is unusual in that its solubility increases with decreasing temperature. Increasing pressure also increases the solubility of calcium carbonate. The CCD can range from 4–6 km below sea level...
All that work and man will ultimately change the pH average - ZERO...
Can mankind change things LOCALLY??? YES and he should STOP or minimize his environmental impact. But Globally the Earth is IGNORING you...
Don't need to change the pH of the entire ocean. Just need to make a difference in the relatively shallow coastal waters. Although that would eventually get diluted and transported into the depths, you still have a significant differential between coastal waters and benthic waters. You do not absorb and distribute immediately across the entire system.
If you think that we cannot affect the global environment, I beg to differ. CFCs had a significant global effect, eventually concentrating mostly at the poles. Lead from gasoline had a significant global effect. Even though it washed out of the atmosphere primarily in local and regional areas, it did affect coastal waters and even deeper sediments, due to flushing through the watersheds.
Earth is not conscious, so does indeed "ignore" us. But it will respond to what we do, both regionally and globally.
Oh God!!! The sky is falling...again.
Look up "nuance." It will do you wonders.
This is just another chance for some scientists to get a big federal grant
This is why the GOP is increasingly being referred to as the Stupid Party - with assertions like Frank's above.
You don't like the results so try to discredit the effort by claiming that it's all just a money grab. Frank, don't waste your time reading science articles - go back to the radio and turn on Rush Limbaugh.
Amen Gumps. Frank thinks that EVERYONE is motivated entirely by money. What a projection of your motivation and lack of morals, Frank!
Idiot!
Frank, how 'bout this?
252 million years ago a massive volcanic eruption know as a flood basalt event raised the ocean's surface temperature by about 2 degrees. This, in turn, triggered a series of events that eventually led to a roughly 8 degree rise in global temperatures, which in turn nearly sterilized our planet. It's the only mass extinction so severe it even effected bacteria and insects. Scientist call it the "Great Dying".
Although not its target, WHOI's research into variable acidity along coastlines could lend invaluable insight into certain aspects of what went wrong and why. Can you really put a price tag on something that could help us protect not only our own species but nearly all life on Earth? I mean, it's not football or NASCAR, but it's still kind of important don't you think?
Hey Forest Gumps, stupid is as stupid does.
I have a story for ya your momma obviously never told you:
Chicken Little likes to walk in the woods. She likes to look at the trees. She likes to smell the flowers. She likes to listen to the birds singing.
One day while she is walking an acorn falls from a tree, and hits the top of her little head.
- My, oh, my, the sky is falling. I must run and tell the lion about it, - says Chicken Little and begins to run.
She runs and runs. By and by she meets the hen.
- Where are you going? - asks the hen.
- Oh, Henny Penny, the sky is falling and I am going to the lion to tell him about it.
- How do you know it? - asks Henny Penny.
- It hit me on the head, so I know it must be so, - says Chicken Little.
- Let me go with you! - says Henny Penny. - Run, run.
So the two run and run until they meet Ducky Lucky.
- The sky is falling, - says Henny Penny. - We are going to the lion to tell him about it.
- How do you know that? - asks Ducky Lucky.
- It hit Chicken Little on the head, - says Henny Penny.
- May I come with you? - asks Ducky Lucky.
- Come, - says Henny Penny.
So all three of them run on and on until they meet Foxey Loxey.
- Where are you going? - asks Foxey Loxey.
- The sky is falling and we are going to the lion to tell him about it, - says Ducky Lucky.
- Do you know where he lives? - asks the fox.
- I don't, - says Chicken Little.
- I don't, - says Henny Penny.
- I don't, - says Ducky Lucky.
- I do, - says Foxey Loxey. - Come with me and I can show you the way.
He walks on and on until he comes to his den.
- Come right in, - says Foxey Loxey.
They all go in, but they never, never come out again.
So, what's your point?
Sorry forest, i didn't mean to confuse you. ask your momma to explain it to you.
Oh, I see - you had no point.