SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
Icebergs, calved from the Sermeq Kujalleq glacier, float in the Ilulissat Icefjord in the Arctic Circle. (Photo: Thor Wegner/DeFodi Images via Getty Images)
Acidification of Arctic Happening Up to 4 Times Faster Than Other Oceans
The research followed reports that the Arctic is warming nearly four times faster than the Earth as a whole.
Sep 29, 2022
Researchers in China and the U.S. said Thursday they were "shocked" to discover that the Arctic Ocean is acidifying three to four times faster than the rest of the world's oceans.
The faster rate of change is due to the speed with which ice in the ocean is melting, according to Wei-Jun Cai of the University of Delaware and Liqi Chen of the Third Institute of Oceanography in China.
"If sea ice continues to melt at its current rate, the rapid acidification of the ocean will intensify in the next few decades until there is no sea ice left in the Arctic Ocean."
The researchers analyzed data collected on 47 expeditions to the Arctic between 1994 and 2020 and found pH levels decreased roughly four times faster in the western Arctic than in other oceans over the same time period. They also measured the saturation of the mineral aragonite, which decreased three times faster. Both phenomena indicate more acidification.
In 1990, only a tiny portion of the Arctic had low pH and aragonite saturation levels, and by 2020, the area had grown to 7% of the ocean.
"We were shocked to see acidification is happening three to four times faster," Cai told The Guardian.
As Common Dreams reported in August, the Arctic is warming nearly four times as fast as the Earth as a whole--about twice the rate that had previously been estimated for the region.
In turn, Arctic waters are absorbing more of the atmosphere's carbon dioxide, leading to acidification.
Acidification harms organisms including coral reefs as well as other marine species.
The continued extraction of fossil fuels and the resulting carbon emissions have set off a feedback loop involving melting sea ice and acidification. As Vice reported Thursday, "Scientists say that if sea ice continues to melt at its current rate, the rapid acidification of the ocean will intensify in the next few decades until there is no sea ice left in the Arctic Ocean."
"The ultimate solution," Cai told the outlet, "would be to remove fossil fuels from the atmosphere, to reduce the emissions, and also try to remove CO2 activity from the atmosphere."
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
Researchers in China and the U.S. said Thursday they were "shocked" to discover that the Arctic Ocean is acidifying three to four times faster than the rest of the world's oceans.
The faster rate of change is due to the speed with which ice in the ocean is melting, according to Wei-Jun Cai of the University of Delaware and Liqi Chen of the Third Institute of Oceanography in China.
"If sea ice continues to melt at its current rate, the rapid acidification of the ocean will intensify in the next few decades until there is no sea ice left in the Arctic Ocean."
The researchers analyzed data collected on 47 expeditions to the Arctic between 1994 and 2020 and found pH levels decreased roughly four times faster in the western Arctic than in other oceans over the same time period. They also measured the saturation of the mineral aragonite, which decreased three times faster. Both phenomena indicate more acidification.
In 1990, only a tiny portion of the Arctic had low pH and aragonite saturation levels, and by 2020, the area had grown to 7% of the ocean.
"We were shocked to see acidification is happening three to four times faster," Cai told The Guardian.
As Common Dreams reported in August, the Arctic is warming nearly four times as fast as the Earth as a whole--about twice the rate that had previously been estimated for the region.
In turn, Arctic waters are absorbing more of the atmosphere's carbon dioxide, leading to acidification.
Acidification harms organisms including coral reefs as well as other marine species.
The continued extraction of fossil fuels and the resulting carbon emissions have set off a feedback loop involving melting sea ice and acidification. As Vice reported Thursday, "Scientists say that if sea ice continues to melt at its current rate, the rapid acidification of the ocean will intensify in the next few decades until there is no sea ice left in the Arctic Ocean."
"The ultimate solution," Cai told the outlet, "would be to remove fossil fuels from the atmosphere, to reduce the emissions, and also try to remove CO2 activity from the atmosphere."
Researchers in China and the U.S. said Thursday they were "shocked" to discover that the Arctic Ocean is acidifying three to four times faster than the rest of the world's oceans.
The faster rate of change is due to the speed with which ice in the ocean is melting, according to Wei-Jun Cai of the University of Delaware and Liqi Chen of the Third Institute of Oceanography in China.
"If sea ice continues to melt at its current rate, the rapid acidification of the ocean will intensify in the next few decades until there is no sea ice left in the Arctic Ocean."
The researchers analyzed data collected on 47 expeditions to the Arctic between 1994 and 2020 and found pH levels decreased roughly four times faster in the western Arctic than in other oceans over the same time period. They also measured the saturation of the mineral aragonite, which decreased three times faster. Both phenomena indicate more acidification.
In 1990, only a tiny portion of the Arctic had low pH and aragonite saturation levels, and by 2020, the area had grown to 7% of the ocean.
"We were shocked to see acidification is happening three to four times faster," Cai told The Guardian.
As Common Dreams reported in August, the Arctic is warming nearly four times as fast as the Earth as a whole--about twice the rate that had previously been estimated for the region.
In turn, Arctic waters are absorbing more of the atmosphere's carbon dioxide, leading to acidification.
Acidification harms organisms including coral reefs as well as other marine species.
The continued extraction of fossil fuels and the resulting carbon emissions have set off a feedback loop involving melting sea ice and acidification. As Vice reported Thursday, "Scientists say that if sea ice continues to melt at its current rate, the rapid acidification of the ocean will intensify in the next few decades until there is no sea ice left in the Arctic Ocean."
"The ultimate solution," Cai told the outlet, "would be to remove fossil fuels from the atmosphere, to reduce the emissions, and also try to remove CO2 activity from the atmosphere."
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.