West Coast Scientists Urge Rapid Action Against Ocean Acidification [View all]

[HuckleB]

Source: KUOW

A panel of ocean scientists from Washington, Oregon and California said Monday that local action on the West Coast — one of the regions of the world hardest hit by ocean acidification — could soften the blow of this rapidly worsening global problem.

While acidification's main cause is carbon dioxide emitted globally, the West Coast Ocean Acidification and Hypoxia Science Panel said it's urgent to fight the phenomenon close to home as well as globally.

Changing ocean chemistry has already taken a toll on the Northwest shellfish industry. As oceans absorb more of the carbon dioxide that humans keep adding to the atmosphere, it will only get harder for shellfish and plankton to grow shells as seawater turns more acidic.

Ocean acidification and the related problem of hypoxia, or low oxygen levels under water, "will have severe environmental, ecological and economic consequences for the West Coast," the panel's report states.

Read more: http://kuow.org/post/west-coast-scientists-urge-rapid-action-against-ocean-acidification

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It's way past time.