A century of change in the California Current: upwelling system amplifies acidification

Stoll, Mary Margaret V.; Deutsch, Curtis A.; Jurikova, Hana; Rae, James W. B.; Frenzel, Hartmut; Gothmann, Anne M.; Alin, Simone R.; Gagnon, Alexander C.

doi:10.1038/s41467-025-63207-6

i

A century of change in the California Current: upwelling system amplifies acidification

2025
By Stoll, Mary Margaret V. ; Deutsch, Curtis A. ; Jurikova, Hana ; ...
Series: PMEL contribution no. 5509

Details

Journal Title:

Nature Communications
Personal Author:

Stoll, Mary Margaret V. ; Deutsch, Curtis A. ; Jurikova, Hana ; Rae, James W. B. ; Frenzel, Hartmut ; Gothmann, Anne M. ; Alin, Simone R. ; Gagnon, Alexander C.
NOAA Program & Office:

CoRIS (Coral Reef Information System) ; OAR (Oceanic and Atmospheric Research) ; PMEL (Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory) ; CICOES (Cooperative Institute for Climate, Ocean and Ecosystem Studies) ; NOS (National Ocean Service)
Description:

Predicting the pace of acidification in the California Current System (CCS), a productive upwelling system that borders the west coast of North America, is complex because the anthropogenic contribution is intertwined with other natural sources. A central question is whether acidification in the CCS will follow the pace of increasing atmospheric CO2, or if climate effects and other biogeochemical processes will either amplify or attenuate acidification. Here, we apply the boron isotope pH proxy to cold-water orange cup corals to establish a historic level of acidification in the CCS and the Salish Sea, an associated marginal sea. Through a combination of complementary modeling and geochemical approaches, we show that the CCS and Salish Sea have experienced amplified acidification over the industrial era, driven by the interaction between anthropogenic CO2 and a thermodynamic buffering effect. From this foundation, we project future acidification in the CCS under elevated CO2 emissions. The projected change in pCO2 over the 21st century will continue to outpace atmospheric CO2, posing challenges to marine ecosystems of biological, cultural, and economic importance.
Source:

Nature Communications, 16(1)
Series:

PMEL contribution no. 5509
DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-63207-6
ISSN:

2041-1723
Format:

pdf
Publisher:

Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Document Type:

Journal Article
Funding:

Grant no. NA15NOS4780186
License:

https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Rights Information:

CC BY
Compliance:

Submitted
Main Document Checksum:

urn:sha-512:11c3d1ec2c10114c27c6d8ee1d059a8bf512a6b36066c68c11915574679284c8ca7d61ddc49c0e0034a28d5be7d02fbbd0ebe990d86644eabfaf494f22f250cc
Download URL:

https://repository.library.noaa.gov/view/noaa/72548/noaa_72548_DS1.pdf
File Type:

[PDF - 1.82 MB ]

ON THIS PAGE

Details

The NOAA IR serves as an archival repository of NOAA-published products including scientific findings, journal articles, guidelines, recommendations, or other information authored or co-authored by NOAA or funded partners. As a repository, the NOAA IR retains documents in their original published format to ensure public access to scientific information.