(June 15, 2015) New
research by NOAA, University of Alaska, and Woods Hole Oceanographic
Institution in the journal Oceanography shows that surface waters of the
Chukchi and Beaufort seas could reach levels of acidity that threaten the
ability of animals to build and maintain their shells by 2030, with the Bering
Sea reaching this level of acidity by 2044.
“Our research shows that within 15 years, the chemistry of
these waters may no longer be saturated with enough calcium carbonate for a
number of animals from tiny sea snails to Alaska King crabs to construct and
maintain their shells at certain times of the year,” said Jeremy Mathis, an
oceanographer at NOAA’s Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory and lead
author. “This change due to ocean acidification would not only affect
shell-building animals but could ripple through the marine ecosystem.”