Scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Meteorology
(MPI-M), Dr. Katharina Six, Dr. Silvia Kloster, Dr. Tatiana Ilyina, the late
Dr. Ernst Maier-Reimer and two co-authors from the US, demonstrate that ocean
acidification may amplify global warming through the biogenic production of the
marine sulfur component dimethylsulphide (DMS).
It is common knowledge that fossil fuel emissions of CO2
lead to global warming. The ocean, by taking up significant amounts of CO2,
lessens the effect of this anthropogenic disturbance. The "price" for
storing CO2 is an ongoing decrease of seawater pH (ocean acidification1), a
process that is likely to have diverse and harmful impacts on marine biota,
food webs, and ecosystems.