Pockets Of Ocean Acidification Hit West Coast: Ocean Avg. pH 8.1; In Some Areas 7.4
Last edited Mon Jun 12, 2017, 08:37 PM - Edit history (1)
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Offshore acidification had been studied before, but with the new study, “we literally took that picture and we moved it all the way to the surf zone,” Chan said. Multiple institutions joined to install sensors in the coastal waters from Monterey Bay to just north of Newport, Ore. The sensors monitored conditions for the three years from 2011 to 2013 and found clear evidence of intense acidification.
Waters fell well below the global average ocean pH of 8.1, with the worst-hit areas measuring 7.4, among the lowest values ever recorded in surface waters. “The bad news is that we have acidified, compromised water,” Chan said. But, crucially, “it’s not the same everywhere,” he said. The sensors showed distinct spatial patterns of hotspots and areas where levels were more moderate, and, particularly striking, those areas stayed as hotspots, or relative refuges, “year after year after year.”
Why certain areas have been hit hard and others haven’t wasn’t a focus of the study, but Chan said it likely has to do with the interactions of winds and ocean currents. Some of the sensors from the study are still in place, and Chan is working with citizen scientists in marine reserves in Oregon to better understand local conditions.
He thinks that this same persistent pattern of hotspots and refuges probably isn’t confined to the West Coast. “I think that that’s something that’s going to hold for everywhere in the world,” he said. Such detailed information is useful for local officials trying to mitigate the impacts of ocean acidification. They can use the maps generated to see where local stressors, such as pollution, might be making conditions worse. They can target the worst-hit areas, while working to ensure that the relative refuges stay that way. Strategies could include limiting local pollution and maintaining healthy kelp beds and sea grasses, which are thought to help mitigate the impacts of acidification.
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http://www.climatecentral.org/news/ocean-acidification-hotspots-west-coast-21517
= new reply since forum marked as read
Better shut those people measuring ill effects down.
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