The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has helped pay for marine research at the University of Washington since 1977, providing money that supports 120 UW scientists and staff positions. Now NOAA will add up to $4 million more a year and partner with UW researchers who are studying some of the world’s thorniest ocean problems.
Researchers at a laboratory in the San Juan Islands will study how shifting ocean chemistry may alter the marine food web. Others will examine how climate change may affect billion-dollar fisheries for pollock and crab in the Bering Sea.
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Currently, researchers at the Friday Harbor Labs on San Juan Island are constructing giant tanks in which they can adjust carbon-dioxide levels to see how that affects the acidity of saltwater and all the life within it, particularly the plankton that serve as the base of the food chain.
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Craig Welch, The Seattle Times, 9 June 2010. Full article.
