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‘We were shocked’: Scientists discover Arctic Ocean acidifying up to four times the rate of other seas
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‘We were shocked’: Scientists discover Arctic Ocean acidifying up to four times the rate of other seas
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The acidification of the Arctic Ocean is occurring at quadruple the rate of Earth’s other seas, according to a new study that was published in the journal Science and reported by The Guardian on Thursday.
Anthropomorphic climate change has disproportionately impacted the Arctic and Antarctic regions, which under normal conditions reflect solar radiation. This is a key tenet of the planet’s self-cooling process, known as the albedo effect. But the accumulation of greenhouse gases like CO2, methane, and water vapor in the atmosphere – which are byproducts of burning carbon – has destabilized these processes.
“The ocean, which absorbs a third of all of the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, has grown more acidic because of fossil fuel use. Rapid loss of sea ice in the Arctic region over the past three decades has accelerated the rate of long-term acidification,” The Guardian noted. “Researchers from the Polar and Marine Research Institute at Jimei University, China, and the School of Marine Science and Policy at the University of Delaware in the US, say rapid sea-ice loss exposes seawater to the atmosphere, promoting takeup of carbon dioxide at a faster rate than in the Atlantic, Pacific, Indian, Antarctic and sub-Antarctic basins.”
READ MORE: Greenland’s rapidly melting ice could raise sea levels one foot by 2050
Researchers expressed astonishment at the disruption rate, which underscores the fragility of Earth’s systems.
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