Oysters and clams are feeling the effects of increasing ocean acidification.
Oceans around the United States are becoming more acidic, due to the release of gases into the atmosphere. Investigators believe the environmental damages will strike at Alaska and the Pacific northwest first, while waters around the northeast will be see the greatest effect.
Shellfish fisheries around the country are already experiencing losses to to acidification of the oceans.
Mollusk harvests on the coast of southern Massachusetts take in $300 million dollars each year, but that industry could be severely impacted by the environmental damage currently taking place. Fisheries in the Pacific northwest that harvest oysters may have already lost $110 million dollars due to increasing acidity in oceans, researchers stated.
Around one quarter of all the carbon released by human beings into the atmosphere are absorbed by oceans. There, the greenhouse gas can react with water to form carbonic acid, increasing concentrations of the substance in oceans, lowering the pH.
Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDS) researchers created a new map of the United States that shows where damage is expected to be greatest.
The mid-Atlantic and the Northeast make a ton of money off vulnerable species. They have a lot to lose," Lisa Suatoni from the Natural Resources Defense Council said.
Nutrient runoff from farms can exacerbate the problem, leading to "acidification hot spots." As nutrients are washed into coastal waters, they can feed algae, creating massive algal blooms that can strip ocean regions of oxygen, creating dead zones. The microorganisms also release vast amounts of carbon dioxide, compounding the problem of acidification.
New Bedford, Massachusetts is one of the communities that could be most greatly affected by rising acid levels in oceans. During the 1980's, fishermen in high-tech boats greatly reduced populations of cod, to the point where the fish could no longer be harvested. Since that time, the town has depended on scallops for their marine agriculture. If these shellfish disappear, the townspeople could experience a major economic downturn.
Climatologists believe acidification of oceans is now progressing at a faster rate than at any other time during the last 300 million years.
"The acidification of the ocean won't stop any time soon-the process is already far advanced, and the sea can't neutralize the carbon dioxide nearly as fast as it is being absorbed. It will likely take thousands of years for the sea's pH to return to normal," NRDC officials wrote.
Analysis of the progression of ocean acidification and its possible impact on shellfish and fisheries was profiled in the journal Nature Climate Change.
