WASHINGTON — With the oceans absorbing more than 1 million tons of carbon dioxide an hour, a National Research Council study released Thursday found that the level of acid in the oceans is increasing at an unprecedented rate and threatening to change marine ecosystems.
The council said the oceans were 30 percent more acidic than they were before the Industrial Revolution started roughly 200 years ago, and the oceans absorb one-third of today’s carbon dioxide emissions.
Unless emissions are reined in, ocean acidity could increase by 200 percent by the end of the century and even more in the next century, said James Barry, a senior scientist at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute in California and one of the study’s authors.
“Acidification is changing the chemistry of the oceans at a scale and magnitude greater than thought to occur on Earth for many millions of years and is expected to cause changes in the growth and survival of a wide variety of marine organisms, potentially leading to massive shifts in ocean ecosystems,” Barry told the Senate Commerce Committee’s Oceans, Atmosphere, Fisheries and Coast Guard Subcommittee on Thursday.
Also testifying was actress Sigourney Weaver, who made passing references to her roles in “Alien” and “Avatar” while urging Congress to pass global climate change legislation.
The effects of growing ocean acid levels might be more pronounced off the coast of the Pacific Northwest. Cold water absorbs more carbon dioxide than warm water does.
Shellfish growers and commercial fishermen from the Gulf of Alaska to the Gulf of Mexico are also worried.
“This is a devastating ghost lurking in the shadows that would change our whole lives,” said Donald Waters, a commercial fisherman who fishes for red snapper and king mackerel out of Pensacola, Fla.
The National Research Council report, requested by Congress, said carbon dioxide emissions were increasing so rapidly that natural processes in the sea that maintained pH levels couldn’t keep up. The report called for an expanded system to monitor ocean conditions and for increased research into ocean chemistry and the impact that changes would have. Scientists think that increased acidity could affect the entire marine food chain, from microscopic forms of phytoplankton to fish and whales.
The Environmental Protection Agency is investigating whether it can use the Clean Water Act to control greenhouse gas emissions because of ocean acidification.
