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Seasonal peak in Arctic Ocean acidity could shift to the summer

The acidity of the Arctic Ocean currently peaks in winter. A modelling study suggests that this peak could shift to the summer in the future — this is bad news for ecosystem functions, food webs and Indigenous communities.
  1. Victoria Qutuuq Buschman

    1. Victoria Qutuuq Buschman is at the International Arctic Research Center, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, Alaska 99775, USA, and at the Greenland Institute of Natural Resources, Nuuk, Greenland.

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  2. Claudine Hauri

    1. Claudine Hauri is at the International Arctic Research Center, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, Alaska 99775, USA.

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The global ocean is gradually acidifying on multidecadal timescales. This acidification occurs when carbon dioxide generated by human activities is absorbed by the ocean, and produces conditions in which many marine organisms cannot thrive. Writing in Nature, Orr et al.1 present global simulations suggesting that future warming in the Arctic Ocean will cause CO2 levels to peak seasonally in surface waters in the summer, implying that climate change will further accelerate ocean acidification. The resulting increase in acidification would double down on the already heat-stressed ecosystem, with effects that could creep up the food web — further challenging the food security, culture and well-being of Indigenous peoples in the Arctic.

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Nature 610, 36-37 (2022)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-022-03076-x

Land acknowledgement: The International Arctic Research Center is in the unceded traditional and contemporary homelands of the Lower Tanana Dena, and the Greenland Institute of Natural Resources is in the self-governing country of Kalaallit Nunaat. The authors recognize the historical and ongoing legacies of colonialism and are especially grateful to all Indigenous communities of the Arctic for their stewardship of these lands, waters and species, for now and time immemorial.

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Competing Interests

The authors declare no competing interests.

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