It’s bobbing out there now, tracking
acifification of the Gulf of Alaska
Credit: NOAA
When the Earth’s atmosphere fills with ever more CO2, most of the gas eventually gets absorbed by the ocean. If it’s not trapping heat, then global warming won’t increase as fast. That’s good, right?
Wrong. The dribbling of CO2 into the Pacific Ocean, and other seas across the globe, has triggered an inexorable increase in acidification — a process that threatens sea life and the foundation of the food chain.
To gauge this particularly sinister aspect of climate change, a team from the National Science Foundation has launched the first buoy to monitor the rise of acidity in the Gulf of Alaska. As the 10-foot diameter instrument bobs and rolls on the Gulf’s mighty swells, it will also taste the air, measure the wind, and feel the temperature
“The instruments will measure the air-sea exchange of carbon dioxide, oxygen and nitrogen gas in addition to the pH, a measure of ocean acidity, of the surface waters,” said Steven Emerson of the University of Washington, the project’s lead scientist. “This is the first system specifically designed to monitor ocean acidification.”
Anchored in water more than three miles deep, the buoy has already begun transmitting data to scientists via satellites.
More details from the National Science Foundation story:
The buoy is part of a National Science Foundation (NSF) grant awarded to oceanographers at the University of Washington and Oregon State University, working in collaboration with scientists at NOAA’s Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory (PMEL), and at Fisheries and Oceans Canada and the Institute of Ocean Sciences in Sidney, B.C.
“Information from this buoy will lead to a better understanding of ocean acidification — a growing threat to the world’s oceans — by helping scientists determine exactly how physical and biological processes affect carbon dioxide in the north Pacific Ocean,” said Fred Lipschultz, program director in NSF’s division of ocean sciences.
The goal of the research is to examine how ocean circulation and ecosystems interact to determine how much carbon dioxide the north Pacific Ocean absorbs each year.
“The Gulf of Alaska region is particularly important because it is likely to be one of the first regions to feel the impacts of ocean acidification,” said Christopher Sabine, a PMEL oceanographer.
“This a significant step in furthering our understanding of how the ocean is reacting to carbon dioxide, as well as an important addition to the growing Global Ocean Observing System of Systems, which incorporates the best technology to provide the best science to help decision makers and the general public,” said Richard Spinrad, assistant administrator of NOAA’s Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research.