According to a new U.S. study, the rate of acidification in the coastal waters of California is twice the global average, which may damage the local salmon, crab, shellfish and other fishery resources.

Researchers from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and other institutions published a paper in the new issue of the British journal Nature Geoscience, saying that they can infer the rate of ocean acidification by analyzing the foraminiferal shells in seabed sediments. Foraminifera is a kind of marine organism with calcareous shell. The acidification of seawater will affect its shell thickness.

The researchers analyzed about 2000 foraminiferal shells, dating back as early as 1895. The results show that the pH value of California coastal water has decreased by 0.21 in the past 100 years, indicating that the higher the acidity is.

The study points out that the rate of acidification in California's coastal waters is about twice that of the global average. The researchers believe that this trend may affect the coastal fishery resources of California. In the future, some local waters may not be suitable for salmon, crab, shellfish and other marine organisms with important economic value.

At present, the scientific community believes that the carbon dioxide emitted by human activities such as burning fossil fuels, dissolving in the sea water, leads to the increase of ocean acidity, which is an important reason for the current global ocean acidification. The researchers hope that the results of this study will help to further understand the impact of ocean acidification on marine ecosystems.

Source: China Environmental News