Leading oceanographer warns of eco disaster
October 4th, 2009 by Jim JustNew research shows that increasing CO2 levels are likely to make Arctic seawater so corrosive within 10 years that the water will then start to dissolve the shells of molluscs and other shellfish, causing major disruption to the food chain. By the end of the century, the entire Arctic Ocean will be corrosively acidic.
Research by Jean-Pierre Gattuso, of France’s Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, suggests that 10% of the Arctic Ocean will be corrosively acidic by 2018; 50% by 2050; and 100% by 2100.
The tiny mollusc Limacina helicina, which is found in Arctic waters, will be particularly vulnerable, he said. The little shellfish is eaten by baleen whales, salmon, herring and various seabirds. Its disappearance would therefore have a major impact on the entire marine food chain. The deep-water coral Lophelia pertusa would also be extremely vulnerable to rising acidity. Reefs in high latitudes are constructed by only one or two types of coral – unlike tropical coral reefs which are built by a large variety of species. The loss of Lophelia pertusa would therefore devastate reefs off Norway and the coast of Scotland, removing underwater shelters that are exploited by dozens of species of fish and other creatures.
An article in the U.K. Guardian quotes Gattuso:
This is extremely worrying. We knew that the seas were getting more acidic and this would disrupt the ability of shellfish – like mussels – to grow their shells. But now we realise the situation is much worse. The water will become so acidic it will actually dissolve the shells of living shellfish. This will affect the whole food chain, including the North Atlantic salmon, which feeds on molluscs.
More carbon dioxide can dissolve in cold water than warm. Hence the problem of acidification is worse in the Arctic than in the tropics, though we have only recently got round to studying the problem in detail. We knew the Arctic would be particularly badly affected when we started our studies but I did not anticipate the extent of the problem.