Tuesday, January 10, 2012

Ocean hammered by CO2 rise off US west coast

Bad news for an Oregon ocean guy...new studies show that CO2 impacts are already bad and expected to continue hitting hard in the Pacific Ocean off the US west coast and Puget Sound (near Seattle).

First, oysters have been having trouble reproducing in the region due to CO2-driven ocean acidification. As a result, "the state of Washington classified the entire Puget Sound as “waters of concern” because of ocean acidification’s threat to local shellfish and fish resources. This means the data show that ocean acidification is threatening the region’s ability to support fish and shellfish" according to the Center for Biological Diversity.

Now comes news that this region is also at great risk for harm from CO2-driven ocean warming because of low natural temperature variation.

1 comment:

carmelfinley said...

Kayaking yesterday at Sand Lake, just north of Pacific City on the Oregon coast, awesomely beautiful paddling over the sand flats and watching the sea birds. Glad I didn't know this, and deeply regretting to hear it today.