Near Bermuda, the Atlantic Ocean has become its most acidic in four decades; Understanding | Energy and science

About 50 miles southeast of the Bermuda Islands, scientists in the Bermuda Atlantic Time Series Study (BATS) have been collecting monthly samples of the physics, biology and chemistry of the ocean surface and floor since 1988. The team’s latest findings were published in the journal Frontiers. In Marine Science on December 8, it indicates an increase in water acidity and temperature, as well as a decrease in oxygen.

At BATS’ monitoring station, a temperature increase of 0.24°C per decade since the 1980s has been observed at the surface of the subtropical North Atlantic – meaning the ocean is 1°C warmer than it was 40 years ago. Moreover, salinity increased, while the water lost oxygen.

Data indicate that the amount of oxygen available to living organisms decreased by 6%, and acidity increased by 30%, which means carbon ion concentrations decreased. This would affect, for example, the ability to support shells in animals that possess them.

“The chemistry of ocean surface waters in the 2020s is outside the seasonal range observed in the 1980s, and the ocean ecosystem is now in a different chemical environment than that observed a few decades ago,” explains Nicholas Betts, a researcher at the Vienna Institute. Statement from Bermuda Oceanography. “These changes are due to the absorption of anthropogenic carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.”

The stations that provided data for this study are just two of several stations spread across the world’s oceans, some of which have already observed similar processes. Stations off Hawaii, the Canary Islands, Iceland and New Zealand are also key to monitoring long-term changes.

The researchers also highlight the importance of collecting data over long periods to predict future changes based on changes that occurred in the recent past. “It also bears witness to regional and global environmental changes and the existential challenges we will face as individuals and societies in the near future,” Bates concludes.