Oceans' increasing acidity likely to hurt biodiversity:researchers
source: http://www.physorg.com/news/2011-09-oceans-acidity-biodiversity.html
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- JanforGore
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Carbon dioxide bubbles in the extreme low acidity zone. The brown landscape below is devoid of the sea urchins, gastropods and worms, found in areas with a normal level of acidity in the Mediterranean Sea. Credit: Kristy J. Kroeker
Stanford researchers have gotten a glimpse into an uncertain future where increasing levels of carbon dioxide in the Earth's atmosphere will lead to higher levels in the ocean as well, leaving the water more acidic and altering underwater ecosystems.
The glimpse comes from waters near Ischia, Italy, where unusual shallow-water volcanic vents in the floor of the Mediterranean Sea bubble carbon dioxide into the water, creating a local underwater neighborhood that may resemble the ocean of the future.
If the results are a prediction of the future, "you are left with a dramatically different ecosystem that is likely going to be less able to deal with stress and is going to have less biomass available to feed organisms higher up the food chain," said Kristy Kroeker, a graduate student in biology at Stanford's Hopkins Marine Station.
More at the link
Stanford researchers have gotten a glimpse into an uncertain future where increasing levels of carbon dioxide in the Earth's atmosphere will lead to higher levels in the ocean as well, leaving the water more acidic and altering underwater ecosystems.
The glimpse comes from waters near Ischia, Italy, where unusual shallow-water volcanic vents in the floor of the Mediterranean Sea bubble carbon dioxide into the water, creating a local underwater neighborhood that may resemble the ocean of the future.
If the results are a prediction of the future, "you are left with a dramatically different ecosystem that is likely going to be less able to deal with stress and is going to have less biomass available to feed organisms higher up the food chain," said Kristy Kroeker, a graduate student in biology at Stanford's Hopkins Marine Station.
More at the link
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artemis6
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This is a far more dreadful thing than people understand . We must all stop using cars with combustion engines NOW . Stop using plastic . As much as is possible .
- 8 months ago
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artemis6
