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Blog charts acidification

16 May 2006

Scientists are investigating the rising levels of acidity in seawater to find out what it might do to marine life.

To make the experiment more accessible, the experts are keeping an online journal, or web log ('blog'), charting their work - so that people around the globe can have daily access to the experiment.

As a result of man's burning of fossil fuels, carbon dioxide (CO2) levels in both the air and the seas are rising - so fast that, in 100 years' time, the oceans will be more acidic than they have been for 25 million years. CO2 in the atmosphere dissolves in seawater and forms carbonic acid, which in turn decreases the pH value of seawater. Currently the oceans are slightly alkaline, but man's activities look set to change the basic chemistry - creating a real sea-change.

Dr Ian Joint from the Plymouth Marine Laboratory is leading the experiment. He says, "The increased acid in the oceans doesn't mean that the water will fizz or that ships will dissolve! In fact, the change in acidity levels is so small we wouldn't notice it, but the effect on the plants, animals, and particularly the microbes that live in the salty water is unknown - which is why we are doing this experiment."

All kinds of life in the sea may be in the acid firing line, says the team of experts, which includes scientists from the Plymouth Marine Laboratory, the Centre for Ecology & Hydrology at Oxford and the National Oceanography Centre, Southampton, as well as eight UK university groups. Together they are doing a unique experiment in the waters of a Norwegian fjord.

At special large-scale facilities of the University of Bergen, the researchers have created six large enclosures, or 'mesocosms', containing 12,000 litres of seawater each. They have bubbled CO2-enriched air through three of the bags to change the pH value and increase the water's acidity - simulating the real-life conditions we can expect in the year 2100 if we continue to pollute the planet. Nutrients added to the bags have encouraged the growth of phytoplankton, tiny chalky plants that float in the water forming 'blooms'. The other three bags remain unchanged so the team can directly compare the high CO2 marine world with the present-day situation. State-of-the-art molecular biology will monitor the experiment as it moves through the various stages of change.

The project has been funded by a £2·4m consortium grant from the Natural Environment Research Council's Post Genomics & Proteomics programme.

Dr Joint adds, "As well as the scientific experiment we decided to try an experiment in communication - which is why we've set up the website blog so that people can see what happens, as it happens. Experiments don't always go like clockwork, and we've already had a few developments - like unusually good weather resulting in high amounts of CO2 being used up by the rapidly growing plants. We hope that people will enjoy reading about it all."

You can find out what the scientists are up to by visiting their Blog, or you can find out more about the science itself on the Centre for Ecology & Hydrology website.

Press release: 30/06