Cold Ocean Chemistry: Ocean Acidification turns Alaska’s seas into science lab | UAF Sun Star

If you could put cameras in Alaska’s oceans and fast-forward from 1900 to 2100, you would see life change – ocean temperatures rise, populations of shelled animals flounder and entire ecosystems move north with the sea ice retreat.

Without a drop in carbon dioxide emissions, the oceans will continue to harmfully acidify and warm. ... Since the Industrial Revolution, there has been a 25 percent gain in hydrogen ions in the oceans. If humanity were to stop pumping out the carbon dioxide that sinks into the oceans, this process would only continue – another 25 percent, and another 25 percent, thanks to an irreversible lag.