Climate Change: Ocean Acification in the Arctic May Corrode Shells by 2030

Ocean acidification is going to be a huge issue in the future. Scientists have found that surface waters of the Chukchi and Beaufort seas in the Arctic could reach levels of acidity that threaten the ability of animals to build and maintain their shells by 2030.

"Our research shows that within 15 years, the chemistry of these waters may no longer be saturated with enough calcium carbonate for a number of animals from tiny sea snails to Alaska King crabs to construct and maintain their shells at certain times of the year," said Jeremy Mathis, one of the researchers, in a news release. "This change due to ocean acidification would not only affect shell-building animals but could ripple through the marine ecosystem."

In this latest study, the researchers collected observations on water temperature, salinity and dissolved carbon during two month-long expeditions to the Arctic. The data was then used in a predictive model for that region that calculated the change over time in the amount of calcium and carbonate ions dissolved in seawater. This is an important indicator of ocean acidification.

The model revealed that these levels will drop below the current range in 2025 in the Beaufort Sea, 2027 for the Chukchi Sea and 2044 for the Bering Sea. When these concentrations slip below tolerable levels, shell-building animals can't properly form and maintain their shells.

"The Pacific-Arctic region, because of its vulnerability to ocean acidification, gives us an early glimpse of how the global ocean will respond to increased human-caused carbon dioxide emissions, which are being absorbed by our ocean," said Mathis. "Increasing our observations in this area will help us develop the environmental information needed by policy makers and industry to address the growing challenges of ocean acidification."

The findings are published in the journal Oceanography.

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