Acidic waters threaten North America's West Coast

BEIJING, May 26 (Xinhuanet) -- Acidic waters along North America's Pacific coast are threatening marine life much sooner than expected, U.S. federal scientists reported Friday.

"We did not expect to see this extent of ocean acidification until the middle to the end of the century," said study co-author Chris Sabine.

Acidification describes the process, natural or manmade, of ocean water becoming corrosive as a result of carbon dioxide being absorbed from the atmosphere.

The researchers said anthropogenic, or manmade, emissions of carbon dioxide are likely to blame since the acidified water that is being "upwelled" seasonally from the deeper ocean is from the last 50 years, a period when the burning of fossil fuels raised CO2 levels dramatically.

"Ocean acidification may be seriously impacting marine life on our continental shelf right now," study co-author Richard Feely said in a statement released by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which co-sponsored the study along with NASA and the National Science Foundation.

Feely, a NOAA oceanographer, noted that while the ability of oceans to absorb carbon dioxide helps mitigate global warming, "the change in the ocean chemistry affects marine life, particularly organisms with calcium carbonate shells, such as corals, mussels, mollusks, and small creatures in the early stages of the food chain."

Previous studies found acidification at deeper depths farther from shore. The researchers said the acidified water appears to well up in spring and summer, when winds bring CO2-rich water up from depths of about 400-600 feet onto the continental shelf.

"The water that will upwell off the coast in future years already is making its undersea trek toward us, with ever-increasing levels of carbon dioxide and acidity," co-author Burke Hales, an associate professor at Oregon State University, warned in a statement.

"The coastal ocean acidification train has left the station," Hales added, "and there is not much we can do to derail it."

(Agencies)