Study Finds Sharp Decline in Ocean Organism Resulting from Climate Change

Articles — By forcechange on March 9, 2009 7:44 am

According to a study published in Nature Geoscience, ocean acidification driven by climate change is sharply affecting the health of microscopic sea organisms called foraminifera.  These amoeba-like organisms live on the surface water of oceans and traditionally absorb huge amounts of carbon pollution from the atmosphere.

The foraminifera have been a buffer against climate change, as they absorb CO2 from the air and transform it into their calcium-based shells.  When they die, their shells sink to the ocean floor, thereby storing the carbon indefinitely.  However, due to increased ocean acidification resulting from greenhouse gas emissions, modern shells now weigh 30-35% less than those found in sediments ranging from before the Industrial Revolution.  This decline in shell size is both a cause and effect of climate change.  It is caused by increased ocean acidification, but it will also magnify the effect of greenhouse gas emissions, since less carbon will now be removed from the atmosphere.

Additionally, the study found a historic link between higher atmospheric carbon dioxide levels and low shell weights in a 50,000-year-long record obtained from a Southern Ocean marine sediment core.