Climate change drives rapid decadal acidification in the Arctic Ocean from 1994 to 2020

doi:10.1126/science.abo0383

. 2022 Sep 30;377(6614):1544-1550.

doi: 10.1126/science.abo0383. Epub 2022 Sep 29.

Climate change drives rapid decadal acidification in the Arctic Ocean from 1994 to 2020

Di Qi^{1

2

3}, Zhangxian Ouyang⁴, Liqi Chen^{1

2}, Yingxu Wu¹, Ruibo Lei⁵, Baoshan Chen⁴, Richard A Feely⁶, Leif G Anderson⁷, Wenli Zhong⁸, Hongmei Lin², Alexander Polukhin⁹, Yixing Zhang², Yongli Zhang¹⁰, Haibo Bi^{3

11}, Xinyu Lin², Yiming Luo¹², Yanpei Zhuang¹, Jianfeng He⁵, Jianfang Chen¹³, Wei-Jun Cai⁴

Affiliations

¹ Polar and Marine Research Institute, College of Harbor and Coastal Engineering, Jimei University, Xiamen 361021, China.
² Third Institute of Oceanography, Ministry of Natural Resources, Xiamen 361005, China.
³ Center for Ocean Mega-Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Qingdao 266071, China.
⁴ School of Marine Science and Policy, University of Delaware, Newark, DE, USA.
⁵ Key Laboratory for Polar Science of the Ministry of Natural Resources, Polar Research Institute of China, Shanghai 200136, China.
⁶ Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory-National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Seattle, WA, USA.
⁷ Department of Marine Sciences, University of Gothenburg, SE-412 96 Gothenburg, Sweden.
⁸ Key Laboratory of Physical Oceanography, Ocean University of China, Shandong, China.
⁹ P.P. Shirshov Institute of Oceanology, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia.
¹⁰ School of Marine Science and Technology, Tianjin University, Tianjin, China.
¹¹ Key Laboratory of Marine Geology and Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Qingdao 266071, China.
¹² School of Marine Sciences, Sun Yat-Sen University, Zhuhai, China.
¹³ Second Institute of Oceanography, Ministry of Natural Resources, Hangzhou 310012, China.

PMID: 36173841
DOI: 10.1126/science.abo0383

Climate change drives rapid decadal acidification in the Arctic Ocean from 1994 to 2020

Di Qi et al. Science. 2022.

. 2022 Sep 30;377(6614):1544-1550.

doi: 10.1126/science.abo0383. Epub 2022 Sep 29.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Polar and Marine Research Institute, College of Harbor and Coastal Engineering, Jimei University, Xiamen 361021, China.
² Third Institute of Oceanography, Ministry of Natural Resources, Xiamen 361005, China.
³ Center for Ocean Mega-Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Qingdao 266071, China.
⁴ School of Marine Science and Policy, University of Delaware, Newark, DE, USA.
⁵ Key Laboratory for Polar Science of the Ministry of Natural Resources, Polar Research Institute of China, Shanghai 200136, China.
⁶ Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory-National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Seattle, WA, USA.
⁷ Department of Marine Sciences, University of Gothenburg, SE-412 96 Gothenburg, Sweden.
⁸ Key Laboratory of Physical Oceanography, Ocean University of China, Shandong, China.
⁹ P.P. Shirshov Institute of Oceanology, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia.
¹⁰ School of Marine Science and Technology, Tianjin University, Tianjin, China.
¹¹ Key Laboratory of Marine Geology and Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Qingdao 266071, China.
¹² School of Marine Sciences, Sun Yat-Sen University, Zhuhai, China.
¹³ Second Institute of Oceanography, Ministry of Natural Resources, Hangzhou 310012, China.

PMID: 36173841
DOI: 10.1126/science.abo0383

Abstract

The Arctic Ocean has experienced rapid warming and sea ice loss in recent decades, becoming the first open-ocean basin to experience widespread aragonite undersaturation [saturation state of aragonite (Ω_arag) < 1]. However, its trend toward long-term ocean acidification and the underlying mechanisms remain undocumented. Here, we report rapid acidification there, with rates three to four times higher than in other ocean basins, and attribute it to changing sea ice coverage on a decadal time scale. Sea ice melt exposes seawater to the atmosphere and promotes rapid uptake of atmospheric carbon dioxide, lowering its alkalinity and buffer capacity and thus leading to sharp declines in pH and Ω_arag. We predict a further decrease in pH, particularly at higher latitudes where sea ice retreat is active, whereas Arctic warming may counteract decreases in Ω_arag in the future.

PubMed Disclaimer

Cited by

Variability in storm season intensity modulates ocean acidification conditions in the northern Strait of Georgia.
Evans W, Campbell K, Weekes C, Del Bel Belluz J, Barrette J, Jordison D, Mackenzie C, Bergshoeff J, Prentice C, Savage R, Desmarais I, Fedje B, Myers E, Bedard K, Hare A, Giesbrecht IJW, Kellogg CTE, Sandwith Z, Jackson JM. Evans W, et al. Sci Rep. 2025 Feb 6;15(1):4505. doi: 10.1038/s41598-025-88241-8. Sci Rep. 2025. PMID: 39915529 Free PMC article.
A photothermal MoS₂ decorated biomass carbon-based aerogel with a directionally aligned porous structure for mitigating heavy metal stress under seawater acidification.
Yu F, Cheng X, Xu J, Zhang Q. Yu F, et al. RSC Adv. 2024 Jan 18;14(5):3085-3095. doi: 10.1039/d3ra07358k. eCollection 2024 Jan 17. RSC Adv. 2024. PMID: 38239451 Free PMC article.
Large-scale culturing of Neogloboquadrina pachyderma, its growth in, and tolerance of, variable environmental conditions.
WestgÅrd A, Ezat MM, Chalk TB, Chierici M, Foster GL, Meilland J. WestgÅrd A, et al. J Plankton Res. 2023 Aug 9;45(5):732-745. doi: 10.1093/plankt/fbad034. eCollection 2023 Sep-Oct. J Plankton Res. 2023. PMID: 37779673 Free PMC article.
The Marginal Ice Zone as a dominant source region of atmospheric mercury during central Arctic summertime.
Yue F, Angot H, Blomquist B, Schmale J, Hoppe CJM, Lei R, Shupe MD, Zhan L, Ren J, Liu H, Beck I, Howard D, Jokinen T, Laurila T, Quéléver L, Boyer M, Petäjä T, Archer S, Bariteau L, Helmig D, Hueber J, Jacobi HW, Posman K, Xie Z. Yue F, et al. Nat Commun. 2023 Aug 14;14(1):4887. doi: 10.1038/s41467-023-40660-9. Nat Commun. 2023. PMID: 37580358 Free PMC article.
Enhanced wind mixing and deepened mixed layer in the Pacific Arctic shelf seas with low summer sea ice.
Wang Y, Feng Z, Lin P, Song H, Zhang J, Wu H, Jin H, Chen J, Qi D, Grebmeier JM. Wang Y, et al. Nat Commun. 2024 Nov 29;15(1):10389. doi: 10.1038/s41467-024-54733-w. Nat Commun. 2024. PMID: 39614075 Free PMC article.

MeSH terms

Actions
Actions
Actions
Actions
Actions
Actions
Actions

Substances

Actions
Actions

LinkOut - more resources

Full Text Sources
- Atypon
- Ovid Technologies, Inc.
Medical
- MedlinePlus Health Information

Save citation to file

Email citation

Add to Collections

Add to My Bibliography

Your saved search

Create a file for external citation management software

Your RSS Feed

Climate change drives rapid decadal acidification in the Arctic Ocean from 1994 to 2020

Affiliations

Climate change drives rapid decadal acidification in the Arctic Ocean from 1994 to 2020

Authors

Affiliations

Abstract

Similar articles

Cited by

MeSH terms

Substances

LinkOut - more resources

Full Text Sources

Medical

Abstract

Similar articles

Cited by

MeSH terms

Substances

Related information

LinkOut - more resources

Full Text Sources

Medical