Story | 17 April 2023
OSPAR report on ocean acidification released
The report has been supported by three ocean acidification experts from Plymouth Marine Laboratory.
The OSPAR report on ocean acidification has been published today on the OSPAR website.
The report is a key policy document for the North Atlantic and Arctic region, and forms part of the OSPAR Quality Status Report.
Three ocean acidification experts from PML have contributed to the report; including our Director of Science Professor Steve Widdicombe, Biological Oceanographer Dr Helen Findlay, and Marine Ecosystems Modeller Dr Yuri Artioli.
Professor Widdicombe commented:
“This is a detailed and hard-hitting report from OSPAR on the state and trends of ocean acidification in the North Atlantic and Arctic regions. The data from coastal areas is particularly worrying – pH is declining at faster rates in the shallow coastal regions than observed in the open oceans.”
“Why is this? Well, coastal and shelf seas are significantly more complex in terms of physicochemical conditions than the open ocean, due to the interaction of multiple drivers; such as freshwater from rivers, wastewaters, mixing, upwelling, biological processes, and sediment interactions.”
“The current conditions have created a perfect storm for acidity. And, considering coastal regions are where we humans interact most with the ocean, we must anticipate the effects.”
