USGS scientists study ocean acidification

A team of scientists, led by the U.S. Geological Survey, is heading for the Arctic Ocean on board the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Healy in a four-week exercise to collect water and ice samples, as part of a research project testing ocean acidification resulting from the absorption of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

Increasing carbon dioxide ocean acidification, as levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere rise, is particularly troubling because of its detrimental effects on a wide variety of marine organisms. And the cold surface waters of the Arctic absorb atmospheric carbon dioxide more rapidly than elsewhere, an effect that is magnified as sea-ice retreats, exposing more surface water to the air.

“Ocean acidification is a particularly vexing problem associated with the release of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere from the burning of fossil fuels because it interferes with the ability of marine organisms to build hard shells of calcium carbonate,” said USGS Director Marcia McNutt when announcing the research expedition. “Comparatively more research has been devoted to the tropics, where coral reefs are threatened. This important expedition focuses on polar latitudes, where the acidification effects can cascade from microscopic organisms up to our economy, as the organisms at risk form the base of the food chain for some of the world’s most productive fisheries.”

In two previous Arctic cruises, in 2010 and 2011, scientists collected more than 30,000 water samples throughout the Canada basin and up to an area close to the North Pole, USGS said. The USGS is conducting similar field studies in tropical and temperate regions, including the Gulf of Mexico, Florida Keys and the Virgin Islands, the agency said.

—Alan Bailey