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Global Warming Rapidly Acidifying Arctic Ocean

by Bidita Debnath on May 12 2013 10:11 PM

 Global Warming Rapidly Acidifying Arctic Ocean
According to a new report by the Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme (AMAP), global warming is making the Arctic Ocean acidic.
The atmospheric pollution levels and carbon dioxide emissions have caused the damage in the Arctic seas to an irreversible extent, the BBC reports.

The report said that acidification would hamper marine creatures like the commercially valuable fish, adding that the marine ecosystem will undergo drastic changes, although it is vague as to what those changes might be.

Stating that the Arctic regions inhabits a population of four million, and holds an estimate of 25% of the world's remaining oil and natural gas, Geologists have said that CO2 emissions not only contribute in warming the planet but also in acidifying alkaline seas.

The arctic seas are more vulnerable as the sea surface is exposed to atmospheric CO2 emissions.

The freshwater flowing from rivers and melting of land ice adds to the vulnerability of the Arctic region as freshwater is not so effective at neutralizing the acidic effects of CO2.

Richard Bellerby from the Norwegian Institute for Water Research has found that freshwater lowers the concentration of ions that buffers pH change and the loss of surface sea ice have allowed the harming effects of CO2 to occur even faster.

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Scientists estimate that the average acidity of surface ocean waters worldwide is now about 30% higher than before the Industrial Revolution and rapid changes are yet to come.

Source-ANI


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