The subpolar region of the North Atlantic has experienced faster acidification rates over the last ten years compared to previous decades, revealing a change in the physical patterns of the ocean.
This is what emerges from a study led by Spain and Russia and published in the international scientific journal Biogeosciences on January 13th.
Research led by QUIMA
The Marine Chemistry Group (QUIMA) of the Institute of Oceanography and Global Change (IOCAG) at the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (ULPGC) led the research, carried out in collaboration with the Marine Research Institute of Vigo (both in Spain) and the P. Shirshov Institute of Oceanology, affiliated with the Russian Academy of Sciences.
As reported in the press release by ULPGC, the research has revealed faster acidification rates in the Atlantic, i.e., lower salinity and higher oxygenation, as well as a loss of essential minerals for marine organisms.
Threat to marine organisms
“Ocean acidification poses a threat to marine organisms and ecosystems, with successive impacts on the food chain and potentially on socioeconomic factors, making the study of its trends crucial in the development of mitigation plans,” emphasizes the press release.
The study was conducted between 2009 and 2019, collecting and analyzing sea water samples from the surface to the bottom. The objective has been to determine physicochemical variables, while evaluating the dynamics of the oceanic carbon system in the subpolar region based on the data collected over those ten years.
Impact of Anthropogenic CO2
According to the research, changes in physical patterns increased the accumulation of the anthropogenic CO2 fraction, i.e., the part of carbon dioxide that increases due to human activity. As a consequence, the note indicates, the loss of minerals such as calcite and aragonite, essential for marine organisms, accelerated.
In this regard, the subpolar North Atlantic is a crucial region from an oceanographic point of view and a climate change “hotspot,” with impacts extending globally, as indicated by the study experts.
Importance of the study
“Studying the processes in this area is essential to better understand how climate change affects on regional scales within the Atlantic basin and, ultimately, the rest of the oceans,” highlights ULPGC in the press release.
Through this research, not only is a detailed analysis of the physical and biogeochemical patterns of the three major longitudinal basins of the region allowed, but it also provides insights into how the ocean has responded to the changes over the last decade, which can help scientists anticipate future scenarios and improve projections on the evolution of the area and the marine ecosystems it harbors.
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