First it was only air but now, it is affecting the Earth's waters. Carbon dioxide in our atmosphere has undoubtedly been too much to handle, our oceans have unwillingly absorbed them. Now, it is threatening marine life as the ocean's acidity levels continue to rise.
The effects of increased ocean acidity is evident on a species of pteropod Limacina helicina or sea butterflies, as a team of researchers made a startling discovery that delicate shells were dissolved by the ocean waters in California, Oregon and Washington states.
"Our findings are the first evidence that a large fraction of the West Coast pteropod population is being affected by ocean acidification," said National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) Nina Bednarsek, Ph.D.
Pteropods are free-swimming snails found in oceans around the world that grow to a size of about one-eighth to one-half inch.
The increase in ocean acidity is human-induced, scientists say, and the oceans are getting more corrosive because it has taken almost a third of the carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. The first victims of this would be the marine species with skeletons or shells such as mussels, corals, oysters, and the pteropods.
Bednarsek, who is also the lead researcher, said the findings, which came out in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B, may determine how ocean acidification can affect larger species in the marine ecosystem.
"These nearshore waters provide essential habitat to a great diversity of marine species, including many economically important fish that support coastal economies and provide us with food," she said.
Pteropods comprise the base level of the food chain, serving as main source of food for fish such as salmon, herring, mackerel, among others. These fish are not only for the human's consumption but for the other species as well. Should they perish, it would be a domino effect.
In 2011, the team sampled the waters of Washington, Oregon and California for its chemical and biological properties. They found out that huge portions of the shelf waters, especially in the coastlines of Washington to central California, caused the most damage to the 53 percent of the pteropod samples.
Furthermore, since the pre-industrial era, the researchers observed in their data that a double in the percentage of pteropods with dissolving shells in the same area occurred. The number is feared to triple by 2050 when the waters are expected to be 70 percent more corrosive due to careless human activities.
