Researcher(s):
Eric Sauer
ENVS course(s): 220 Initiated: September 2015 Completed: Go to project site
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High CO2 emissions have been a staple of the 20th and 21st century, but what exactly happens to all that carbon? The obvious answer is that it is released into the air and contributes to the greenhouse effect that warms/keeps warm our planet. But where else does it go? Some of it stay in our atmosphere, but much of it is absorbed by the world’s oceans. When oceans absorb CO2, a whole series of reactions occur and multiple equilibriums shift. The CO2 reacts with water to form carbonic acid, a diprotic acid, which when protons dissociate, raise the pH of the water. This is the basic chemistry of ocean acidification (OA).
Oceans ecosystems, however, are extremely sensitive the changes in temperature and pH, and huge economies for coastal communities. Many studies have speculated on the potential impact of OA on fishing economies, but results vary and have little consensus among researchers. First, it is hard to predict exactly how much and how fast carbon will be absorbed into the ocean. Next, each species of fish has been observed to react to changes in pH differently, some being relatively hearty and others being quite sensitive. Alaskan fisheries are particularly susceptible to changes in oceans pH for several reasons, one of which being that the oceans in the northern latitudes naturally contain higher concentrations of dissolved CO2, so spikes in pH in already more acidic waters could have a proportionally greater impact. In my minor project, I will look specifically at large finfish populations will be affected, and in turn Alaska’s large sport fishing industry.