"Alaska's Coastal Waters Are 'Predisposed' To Ocean Acidification", Congress, Staffers Learn

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Research into how larger species such as king salmon or halibut could be affected by increased acidification is simply nonexistent at this point and illustrates why more awareness and funding are needed. Alaska's coastal waters are "predisposed" to ocean acidification, Mathis said, because the waters off its continental shelf are shallow and very cold. Cold water retains more CO2 and shallow waters are more likely through upwelling to bring corrosive water lacking vital calcite and aragonite to the surface in the coastal fisheries in the Gulf of Alaska or Bering Sea.

Current CO2 levels in the atmosphere are around 385 parts per million, compared to around 280 ppm in 1870. If CO2 levels in the atmosphere continue to rise under what Mathis calls "business as usual" scenarios, severe impacts are possible on ocean species. At 560 ppm, calcification rates decrease and net dissolution of shells can occur at 840 ppm.

"It's a rate problem," Mathis said. "The rate at which it is increasing is faster than in the past. Species can't adapt fast enough to meet the quickness of the change to the ecosystem."

Sediment core and coral reef samples show the oceans have experienced both high and low pH levels in pre-human eras. "The reduction or elimination of calcification has been tied to mass extinction events," Mathis said. "It is unclear at this point which comes first: the mass extinction event and then the feedback, or the low pH followed by the event. But it has been demonstrated that pre-man, oceans have gone low pH."

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http://www.alaskajournal.com/stories/040210/loc_img29_001.shtml