Acidifying Waters May be a Major Threat to Creatures in the Southern Ocean

Acidifying waters may pose a threat to the Southern Ocean. Scientists have found that the ocean is expected to change so fast over the next few decades that tiny creatures at the base of the food web may soon struggle to form their shells.

"The ocean acts as a gigantic sponge to absorb excess carbon dioxide from the atmosphere," said Claudine Hauri, one of the researchers, in a news release. "This process consumes carbonate ions, which are required by key organisms to build and maintain their calcium carbonate shells. If the carbonate ion concentration drops below a threshold-we call it undersaturation-these organisms must spend more energy to fight dissolution in these adverse chemical conditions."

In this case, one of the most threatened marine organisms is the pteropod, which is a tiny sea snail that serves as a staple for plankton, fish, whales and seabirds.

"Our analysis shows that in large parts of the Southern Ocean, the duration of such undersaturation events will increase abruptly from one month to more than six months, in less than 20 years upon their onset, and could reach nearly year-long durations by the end of the century," said Tobias Friedrich, co-lead author of the new study.

The findings show that as greenhouse gases rise, ocean acidification is becoming a major issue. The projected rapid expansion could be a major harm to these pteropods and other vulnerable marine organisms.

The findings are published in the journal Nature Climate Change.

Related Stories

Antarctic Sea Ice Grows to Highest Recorded Extent

Nordic Seas Cooled 500,000 Years Before Global Oceans

For more great science stories and general news, please visit our sister site, Headlines and Global News (HNGN).