In this article, we learn that because of the acidification of the water, large amounts of melting ice in the arctic and an increase of upwelling from the bottom, the Arctic Ocean is quickly becoming dangerously corrosive. To start with, ocean water takes in CO2 from the atmosphere. However, Fiona McLaughlin, a research scientist with Fisheries and Oceans Canada says that “in the Arctic, this acidification process is happening faster than in southern regions because cold water absorbs more CO2 than warm water.” The second problem is the large amounts of ice melt caused by the warming at the poles. Because ice has very low levels of calcium carbonate, the melting is causing “diluting and reducing the concentration of the shell-building compound in the top 50 metres of water.” Then, because of less water being covered by ice, the winter storms are now reaching the surface and causing upwellings from the deep. These waters are also low in calcium carbonate.
All these things layered on top of one another are causing the waters in the Arctic to become corrosive. The lack of calcium carbonate is not just making it difficult for shelled creatures to build their shells, but is literally starting to dissolve the shells that are already there. These creatures, plankton in particular, are the basis of the ocean food chains. Without them, life in the ocean will soon become hard, if not impossible. Scientists are worried that because of water circulation, corrosive waters will soon begin to affect waters in other parts of the world as well.
Do you think that this lack of calcium carbonate in the Arctic will seriously affect life in the ocean?
Scientists think the Arctic ice will be melted before 2030. How long do you think it will take?
0 Responses to “An Acidic Arctic?”