Ocean Acidification

A study of the country’s two largest estuaries reveals that inshore coastal waters are not necessarily experiencing what scientists say is a worrisome global trend of increasingly acidic oceans.

The recently published paper is the latest in a small collection of studies highlighting the complexities of coastal zones onshore.

In this case, researchers looked at trends from data collected more than 20 years within the Neuse River Estuary-Pamlico Sound waters and Chesapeake Bay and found that things like nutrient pollution and algal blooms play a role in how carbon dioxide is dissolved in inland coastal waters.

Research Assistant Professor Nathan Hall with the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill Institute of Marine Sciences in Morehead City and co-author of the study explained that eutrophication is effectively causing, in some cases, estuarine waters to have lower acidification than that of the ocean.

Oceanic responses to climate and human interactions have been studied for decades. In recent years the effects of increasing ocean acidity have been featured, with stark images of coral reefs being decimated by bleaching.

Acidification results from ocean-atmosphere interactions, whereby carbon dioxide from the atmosphere is drawn down, reacting with water molecules to form carbonic acid. This then further breaks down into hydrogen ions and bicarbonate ions, with the former causing a reduction in pH.

Corals are not the only marine organisms to be made up of calcium carbonate and therefore susceptible to ocean acidification however. Single-celled organisms known as foraminifera produce chambered shells of calcium carbonate, and they are an important part of marine food chains, being primary and secondary consumers. Most tend to be benthic, where they live in or at the seafloor, but a smaller proportion are planktonic, living within the water column.

New research, published in Geoscience Frontiers, has focused on the impact of acidification on benthic foraminifera living on the continental shelf of the West Pacific Ocean. Researchers at the Institute of Oceanology in the Chinese Academy of Sciences conducted experiments for eight months on foraminifera cultures taken from four sites in the Yellow Sea, involving 4,626 specimens attributed to 39 species. They tested foraminifera response to marine conditions when progressively more carbon dioxide (400ppm, 800ppm, 1200ppm and 1600ppm) was fed into the system. This reflects modeling scenarios reported by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) where worse-case scenario simulations are based upon carbon dioxide concentrations of 1,600 ppm and above.

…

[You can read the original research article published on the OA-ICC News Stream here.]

Marine biologists are increasingly seeking methods to mitigate anthropogenic climate interference by implementing strategies for ocean carbon dioxide removal (CDR). Ocean alkalinity enhancement parameter is an abiotic approach aimed at carbon dioxide removal. Attempts to increase the carbon dioxide uptake capacity of the ocean can be established by dispersing pulverized mineral or dissolved alkali into the ocean surface.

Nevertheless, the impact of this action remains largely unexplored. In a new report now published in Science Advances, James A. Gately and a research team in ecology and development biology at the University of California, Santa Barbara, U.S., studied the impact of limestone-inspired alkalinity on the bioecology of two phytoplankton functional groups—the coccolithophore (single-celled) Emiliania huxleyi a producer of calcium carbonate, responsible for large-scale calcium carbonate production, and the diatom specimen Chaetoceros sp., a silica producer in modern oceans.

Emiliania huxleyi, a single-celled marine phytoplankton is illustrated on the cover page of the Science Advances issue, and the two taxa (coccolithophore and diatom) together showed a neutral response to limestone-inspired alkalization relative to their growth rate and elemental ratios. The team additionally noted abiotic precipitation, which removed nutrients and alkalinity from the solution to offer an understanding of biogeochemical and physiological responses to ocean alkalinity enhancement in order to provide evidence of its greater impact and its capacity to influence marine ecosystems.

…

European Maritime Day 2023 took place in Brest, France, on 24 and 25 May 2023. OSPAR, as an affiliate member of the International Alliance to Combat Ocean Acidification (OA Alliance), co-convened the side event “Exploring Marine Management and Policy Response to Ocean Acidification” to advance the integration of climate change information across key European marine management frameworks, together with the International Alliance to Combat Ocean Acidification (OA Alliance), and the NE Atlantic Hub of the Global Ocean Acidification Observing Network (GOA-ON).

The meeting brought together policy and decision-makers across Europe to discuss:

1. Ocean acidification trends, biological impacts and threats to keystone fisheries and aquaculture within the Arctic, North Atlantic and Mediterranean;
2. OSPAR’s assessment on ocean acidification published as part of OSPAR’s Quality Status Report 2023, as well as national response strategies;
3. EU and national ocean and marine policy frameworks.

Jos Schilder, co-convenor of the OSPAR Intersessional Correspondence Group on Ocean Acidification (ICG-OA), presented the work that OSPAR is undertaking to tackle ocean acidification. He introduced the OSPAR Ocean Acidification Assessment that was recently published as part of OSPAR’s Quality Status Report 2023, and the approach and methods used to prepare it. As the key findings of this assessment show clearly that ocean acidification is continuing in the OSPAR Region and is putting marine life under pressure, recommendations for next steps in research and policy were highlighted.

Washington, DC – During Capitol Hill Oceans Week (CHOW), U.S. Senators Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), co-chairs of the U.S. Senate Oceans Caucus, reintroduced the Coastal Communities Ocean Acidification Act, legislation that will ensure coordination and collaboration between federal, state, local and tribal entities on ocean acidification research and monitoring.

“Ocean acidification continues to increase as the climate changes, causing harm to ocean resources that many of our coastal communities, Alaska Native cultures, and economy relies on. If we don’t have policies in place to address and coordinate on ocean acidification, we are at risk of far-reaching impacts on shellfish, fish populations, and ocean ecosystems. The time to act is now so we can protect Alaskan subsistence communities and America’s seafood economy.” said Senator Murkowski. “I’m proud to reintroduce my Coastal Communities Ocean Acidification Act during Capitol Hill Oceans Week, sending a strong message to advocates in D.C. and across the country that we are committed to understanding the impacts and extent of climate change-caused ocean acidification, and what more we can do to ensure healthy oceans for future generations.”

“Ocean acidification caused by carbon pollution is a major threat to Rhode Island’s aquaculture industry and to the overall health of our oceans,” said Senator Whitehouse.  “Our bipartisan legislation will build on local efforts to combat acidification across the country and ensure coastal industries can continue grow.”

This legislation would direct NOAA to collaborate with and support state, local, and tribal entities that are conducting or have completed ocean acidification vulnerability assessments or research planning to build upon the existing activities. The bill strengthens partnerships between NOAA and a wide range of stakeholders involved in ocean acidification research, such as indigenous groups, coastal communities, state and local resource managers, fishery management councils and commissions, and the U.S. Integrated Ocean Observing System (IOOS).

…

Pteropod shells could be more resilient to, but still face risks from increasingly acidic waters.

Aboard a Coast Guard research boat off the middle of Vancouver Island, a tiny sea snail is lightly pinned under a microscope with the bristles of a fine-tipped paintbrush to not puncture its three-millimetre shell.

Between the swaying of the Salish Sea, Matt Miller carefully scratches the pteropod’s shell with a small dissecting needle before placing the snail in a solution mirroring the increasingly acidic water from where the creature was pulled.

The University of Victoria PhD student was looking to see if the damaged shell areas dissolved while other spots held strong. The results formed the basis of his new study that casts doubt on whether the creatures dubbed as sea butterflies should serve a key role in understanding the impacts of acidifying oceans.

The burning of fossil fuels and other actions adds carbon dioxide into the atmosphere before the gasses meet with global waters. “Because we’ve put more CO2 into the atmosphere, it means that more is dissolving into the ocean and when that happens it creates a reaction with seawater and it creates an acid called carbonic acid,” Miller said. It’s how humans have reduced the PH of the oceans, increasing their acidity by 30 per cent in just 150 years.

Summary: Researchers are proposing a novel pathway through which coastal ecosystem restoration can permanently capture carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Seagrass and mangroves — known as blue carbon ecosystems — naturally capture carbon through photosynthesis, which converts carbon dioxide into living tissue.

One of the primary drivers of climate change is excess greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Mitigating climate change in the coming century will require both decarbonization — electrifying the power grid or reducing fossil fuel-guzzling transportation — and removing already existing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, a process called carbon dioxide removal.

Researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology and Yale University are proposing a novel pathway through which coastal ecosystem restoration can permanently capture carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Seagrass and mangroves — known as blue carbon ecosystems — naturally capture carbon through photosynthesis, which converts carbon dioxide into living tissue.

“Mangroves and seagrasses extract carbon dioxide from the atmosphere all day long and turn it into biomass,” said Chris Reinhard, an associate professor in the School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences (EAS). “Some of this biomass can get buried in sediments, and if it stays there, then you’ve basically just removed carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.”

Restoring these ecosystems could potentially benefit local flora and fauna and help to energize coastal economies. But Reinhard and colleagues now suggest that restoring them could also remove additional carbon through a novel pathway while combating increasing acidity in the ocean.

In May, they presented their research in “Ocean Alkalinity Enhancement Through Restoration of Blue Carbon Ecosystems” in Nature Sustainability.

Alkaline hydrothermal systems are considered ideal environments for the origin of life because they can provide ideal ion gradient conditions for the formation of early life on Earth.

However, alkaline hydrothermal vents have only been found in the Lost City hydrothermal field in the Atlantic Ocean. Additionally, accurately obtaining the in-situ pH of high-temperature hydrothermal vent fluids is a challenge.

Recently, a research team led by Prof. Zhang Xin from the Institute of Oceanology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (IOCAS) and their collaborators from the University of Science and Technology Beijing constructed an in-situ pH measurement method for high-temperature hydrothermal fluids based on the self-developed Raman insertion Probe (RiP) system.

They applied it to the measurement of arc-back arc (ABA) hydrothermal systems and revealed that the in-situ pH of high-temperature fluids in the sediment-host hydrothermal systems is alkaline. The study was published in Geophysical Research Letters on May 10.

The researchers used a deep-sea extreme environment simulation platform to conduct quantitative analysis of the H₂S-HS^– ion equilibrium system. They established Raman quantitative analysis models for H₂S and HS^– under high-temperature and high-pressure conditions, as well as an in-situ pH calibration model for hydrothermal fluids.

The world’s oceans absorb approximately a quarter of all carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions. During absorption, CO₂ reacts with seawater and oceanic pH levels fall. This is known as ocean acidification and results in lower carbon ion concentrations. Certain ocean inhabitants use carbon ion to build and sustain their shells. Pteropods, which are important components of the marine ecosystem, are among them.

Certain aspects about pteropods, including life cycles and population dynamics, are not well-studied. This is partly due to their size—some sea butterfly species measure less than a millimeter—and poor long-term survival in captivity. Now, a team of marine scientists has examined life cycles, abundance, and seasonal variability of shelled sea butterflies in the north-east Scotia Sea, a region undergoing some of the fastest climate change in the Southern Ocean.

“Decline in Antarctic Ocean pteropod populations could have cascading ramifications to the food web and carbon cycle,” said Dr. Clara Manno, a researcher at the British Antarctic Survey and corresponding author of the study published in Frontiers in Marine Science. “Knowledge about the life cycle of this keystone organism may improve prediction of ocean acidification impacts on the Antarctic ecosystem.”

…

A new study by researchers at the University of Toronto finds that climate change is causing a commercially significant marine crab to lose its sense of smell, which could partially explain why their populations are thinning. 

The research was done on Dungeness crabs and found that ocean acidification causes them to physically sniff less, impacts their ability to detect food odours and even decreases activity in the sensory nerves responsible for smell.  

“This is the first study to look at the physiological effects of ocean acidification on the sense of smell in crabs,” says Cosima Porteus, an assistant professor in the department of biological sciences at U of T Scarborough and co-author of the study along with post-doctoral researcher Andrea Durant.      

The Earth’s oceans are becoming more acidic because they are absorbing increasing amounts of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Such ocean acidification is a direct consequence of burning fossil fuels and carbon pollution – and several studies have shown it’s having an impact on the behaviour of marine wildlife.

…

(Washington, DC) – Today, the U.S. House of Representatives considered and passed two bipartisan Science, Space, and Technology Committee bills: H.R. 676, the Coastal Communities Ocean Acidification Act of 2023 and H.R. 1715, the Advanced Weather Model Computing Development Act.

“I applaud the passage of these two bipartisan pieces of Committee legislation,” said Chairman Frank Lucas. “Improved community engagement with Indian Tribes, as well as state and local government, will improve NOAA’s work to support the health and long-term growth of our marine ecosystems. Collaboration between the Department of Energy and NOAA will not only improve NOAA’s forecasting, but the opportunity to analyze large weather data sets will help to advance machine learning at DOE. […]”

…

H.R. 676, the Coastal Communities Ocean Acidification Act of 2023, requires the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to collaborate with State and local governments and Indian Tribes on vulnerability assessments related to ocean acidification, research planning, and similar activities.

…

The bipartisan Coastal Communities Ocean Acidification Act would require NOAA to collaborate with state, local, and tribal government entities on ocean acidification vulnerability assessments, research planning, and information sharing.

Congresswoman Chellie Pingree (D-Maine) today celebrated the passage of her bipartisan Coastal Communities Ocean Acidification Act of 2023 in the U.S. House of Representatives. The bill, introduced in January by Pingree and Congressman Michael Waltz (R-Fla.), would direct the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to support the current efforts of coastal communities, particularly those who are underserved and rural, that are already facing the impacts of ocean acidification and better equip them with the resources to respond.

“Ocean acidification threatens not only our fisheries but the entire blue economy, our marine resources, industries, jobs, and coastal communities like those in Maine,” said Pingree, ranking member of the House Appropriations Interior and Environment Subcommittee. “My bipartisan Coastal Communities Ocean Acidification Act will address the growing and far-reaching threat of ocean acidification to help ensure that our ocean industries, including fisheries, and the communities that depend on them, are more resilient to our changing oceans. I thank my House colleagues for their strong support and urge Senators to do the same so we can get this important bill to President Biden.”

“Florida’s waterways are essential to our economic growth and prosperity,” said Waltz. “As Floridians, we have experienced firsthand the devastating effects of harmful algal blooms and red tides on our coastal communities. We must work to better understand the connection between ocean acidification and increased toxicity to prevent them moving forward. Today’s passage of this bill brings us one step closer to bolstering collaboration among all stakeholders working to protect Florida’s waterways.”

…

The Port of Miami is a bustling waterway with large cruise and cargo ships, ferries, fishing vessels, and recreational boats. As it turns out, this waterway is also home to a resilient coral community.

According to a new study in Nature’s Scientific Reports by researchers with NOAA’s Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory (AOML), the University of Miami Cooperative Institute of Marine and Atmospheric Studies (CIMAS) and other partners, the corals within this urbanized environment have demonstrated great resilience against unfavorable conditions, such as poor water quality, excess nutrients, high temperatures, high salinity, and low pH levels. These corals have built strong and diverse communities on man-made substrates, such as seawalls and discarded objects.

“The Port of Miami is quite different from the places where we normally work. Everything is artificial, engineered, and constructed,” said Ian Enochs, research ecologist at NOAA AOML and lead author of the new study.  “Somehow, nature has found a way to persist even in the most unnatural of environments.”

…

Since humans began emitting large amounts of carbon dioxide (CO2) into the atmosphere at the start of the Industrial Revolution in 1750, scientists estimate that the ocean has absorbed 20 to 30 percent of these emissions. This is good news for reducing atmospheric CO2, the primary cause of modern climate warming, but the resulting chemical changes in ocean water are increasing acidity and restricting the lives of marine organisms. If humans continue to emit CO2 at high levels, preliminary model projections show a 100 to 150 percent increase in acidity from 2000 to 2100, jeopardizing marine ecosystems and the goods and services they provide to billions of people around the world. Accurate predictions of ocean acidity on regional and global scales are essential for informing critical research, mitigation, and adaptation strategies. A newly published study, supported by a collaboration between CPO’s Climate Observations and Monitoring (COM) Program, Climate Variability and Predictability (CVP) Program, and NOAA’s Global Ocean Monitoring and Observing (GOMO) Program, presents a new data product spanning 1750 to 2100 of marine chemical properties that indicate ocean acidification processes. 

An international group of researchers used 14 different Earth System Models from the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 6 (CMIP6), along with three of the latest available observational datasets, to produce ocean acidification projections that have improved spatial and temporal resolution and overall data quantity compared to previous research. This study, received additional support from NOAA’s Ocean Acidification Program (OAP), National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI), Cooperative Institutes, and laboratories, is published in the Journal of Advances in Modeling Earth Systems, and the data product is available for the research community to access for future research. The COM-CVP-GOMO collaboration funded scientist Brendan R. Carter, contributor to this project, as part of an initiative to increase the use and value of ocean observations, advance our understanding of climate variability and change, and enhance NOAA’s ability to model and predict the Earth System.

…

New tool available for predicting the future of ocean acidification

A team of scientists from across NOAA have created a new tool to help people adapt to ocean acidification in a time of industrialization and increased emissions. The new data product, featured in the Journal of Advances in Modeling Earth Systems, combines observational data with computer simulations and will provide improved global and regional projections for ocean change.

The scientists used models of the changing ocean to determine how chemistry, biology, and physical forces could work together in a changing ocean and to provide projections for 10 different indicators of ocean acidification. They used existing “Shared Socioeconomic Pathways” (known as SSPs) previously developed by the World Climate Research Programme for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Sixth Assessment Report.

“These regional and global projections and maps enable communities across the world to develop more informed adaptation and mitigation strategies,” says the lead author of the study, Li-Qing Jiang at NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information and the Earth System Science Center at University of Maryland.

…

WASHINGTON – Today, the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology passed seven bipartisan bills at a full committee markup. 

“These bills all contribute to a larger effort to improve federal R&D, make it more efficient, and help our science agencies to better serve our communities,” Chairman Frank Lucas said. His opening statement can be found here. The bills passed today include:

H.R. 676, the Coastal Communities Ocean Acidification Act of 2023, requires NOAA to collaborate with State and local governments and Indian Tribes on vulnerability assessments related to ocean acidification, research planning, and similar activities.

“NOAA has already established an Interagency Working Group and conducts the strategic research plan and program research required by the Federal Ocean Acidification Research and Monitoring Act of 2009. And while state and local governments, industry, academia, and other representatives are included in this work, there is no specific call out for Indian Tribes. This bill seeks to amend that by updating the statute directing collaboration of these activities to include Indian Tribes.” – Chairman Lucas

…

Three Saildrone Explorers, uncrewed surface vehicles used to measure ocean data, embarked on a six-month journey around Hawaiʻi Island, Maui, Oʻahu and Kauaʻi to evaluate ocean health across the state. The University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Pacific Marine Environmental Lab (PMEL), and the Cooperative Institute for Climate, Ocean, and Ecosystem Studies (CICOES), are working with Saildrone Inc. to pilot this effort. 

The 23-foot ocean drones will send back critical data and images in real-time to scientists in Hawaiʻi and Washington State so they can assess how climate change and ocean acidification are impacting our coastal waters.

The saildrones left from Pacific Shipyards International in Honolulu Harbor on Oʻahu in March and the official mission started on April 1.

Each saildrone will collect critical ocean chemistry observations around Hawaiʻi to better assess the state’s vulnerability to ocean chemistry changes. This effort is a part of the $50 million gift from Dr. Priscilla Chan and Mark Zuckerberg to the Hawaiʻi Institute of Marine Biology in 2022 to improve Hawaiʻi’s ocean health.

…

California Academy of Sciences: An international research team develops a rubric for governments and policy making bodies to evaluate preparedness for ocean acidification.

In a paper published today in the journal Environmental Research Letters, an international research team composed of scientists affiliated with more than a dozen institutions, including the California Academy of Sciences, propose a first-of-its-kind framework for governments around the world to evaluate their preparedness for — and guide future policies to address — ocean acidification, among the most dire threats to marine ecosystems.

Ocean acidification is one of climate change’s silent killers,” says Rebecca Albright, PhD, Academy Curator of Invertebrate Zoology and founder of the Coral Regeneration Lab (CoRL). “While not as high-profile as threats like coral bleaching, ocean acidification will cause widespread destruction of marine environments by the end of this decade if we don’t take urgent action. To help policymakers identify what actions they should take, my collaborators and I asked ourselves, ‘What would a government have to do in order to have a comprehensive plan to safeguard both the environment and society from ocean acidification?'”

A vibrant coral reef in the Maldives. Credit: Luiz Rocha, California Academy of Sciences.

In a paper published today in the journal Environmental Research Letters, an international research team composed of scientists affiliated with more than a dozen institutions, including the California Academy of Sciences, propose a first-of-its-kind framework for governments around the world to evaluate their preparedness for—and guide future policies to address—ocean acidification, among the most dire threats to marine ecosystems.

“Ocean acidification is one of climate change’s silent killers,” says Rebecca Albright, Ph.D., Academy Curator of Invertebrate Zoology and founder of the Coral Regeneration Lab (CoRL). “While not as high-profile as threats like coral bleaching, ocean acidification will cause widespread destruction of marine environments by the end of this decade if we don’t take urgent action. To help policymakers identify what actions they should take, my collaborators and I asked ourselves, ‘What would a government have to do in order to have a comprehensive plan to safeguard both the environment and society from ocean acidification?'”

Ultimately, the researchers identified six aspects of effective ocean acidification policy, along with specific indicators for each, that policymaking bodies, from local governments to federal agencies, can use to evaluate and guide their own policies.

…

Juvenile sea scallops obtained from ​​Pine Point Oyster Company in Maine were used in this ocean acidification exposure study.

A new study published in PLOS Climate indicates that ocean acidification conditions projected between now and 2100 depress the growth of juvenile Atlantic sea scallops. Ocean acidification is caused by the ocean absorbing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, resulting in chemical changes that increase acidity. Ocean warming may further hinder growth. Atlantic sea scallops support one of the most valuable fisheries in the United States, worth $670 million in 2021.

Postdoctoral researcher and lead author Emilien Pousse said, “This work describes the energetic balance of sea scallops under ocean acidification conditions for the first time, a species of economic and socio-cultural importance. Within our changing world, getting to know how our marine resources and fisheries could be affected by ocean warming and acidification in the near future is the key to anticipate the upcoming changes.”

The 8-week study was a collaboration between NOAA Fisheries and Massachusetts Maritime Academy in Buzzards Bay, Massachusetts. Faculty and students helped NOAA scientists conduct the study at the campus’ aquaculture lab. Scientists exposed the scallops to three different carbon dioxide levels and measured their growth and metabolism, including feeding, respiration, and excretion rates. Ocean acidification conditions significantly reduced the scallops’ ability to take up energy.

…