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A new high-resolution computer model of ocean acidity off the coast of California spells disaster for the local marine ecosystem, according to a new study published in Science last Thursday (June 14). Led by ocean biogeochemist Nicolas Gruber of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zuric, researchers modeled how atmospheric carbon dioxide emissions over the next 4 decades will lead to a rapid rise in ocean acidity in the California Current System—a complex system of currents extending more than 600 miles offshore and stretching from Oregon to Baja California, Mexico.
A rise in acidity will in turn lead to a reduction in carbonate ions in the water, which will lower the saturation rate of a mineral form of calcium known as aragonite. Both carbonate ...
