In response to the need to better understand the implications of ocean acidification( described below), a new research programme has been started up in the UK, of which this cruise is one component. The cruise was carried out by the‘ Sea Surface’ consortium of the UK programme( UKOA). This booklet contains the initial press release together with a collection of the daily blog posts from the cruise, as they were written at the time( and so they are written in the present rather than the past tense).
Press Release – 07 January 2013
To begin 2013 with a big bang, a team of thirty scientists, from eight of the UK’ s top research laboratories, will be setting out on an oceanographic mission to study the effect of ocean acidification in waters near Antarctica. The five week long research cruise, aboard the Natural Environment Research Council’ s RRS James Clark Ross, departs on 8 th January for some of the coldest waters on Earth.
The ocean is an integral part of the climate system. By absorbing large amounts of the carbon dioxide( CO 2), mostly produced as result of our use of fossil fuels, the ocean helps to slow the rate and severity of climate change. The global ocean has absorbed more than 30 % of the total CO 2 produced by human activities in the past 200 years. While this can be seen as a benefit, the down side is that as the ocean absorbs more and more CO 2 its chemistry changes and the seawater moves down the pH scale towards acidity. This process is known as ocean acidification.
Cold waters provide best indications
Cold waters naturally hold more CO 2 than warmer waters so the icy Southern Ocean is expected to be especially informative for studying the effects of ocean acidification. Additionally, deepwater upwelling around Antarctica brings water to the surface that already contains very high levels of CO 2. For these reasons, the waters of the Southern Ocean are likely to provide a unique window into how the marine environment will respond to higher CO 2 levels in the future. This expedition will include a visit to the Weddell Sea, which has some of the coldest surface waters(-1.8⁰C) anywhere in the world.
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