Ocean acidification is putting the Pacific Northwest shellfish industry in jeopardy скачать в хорошем качестве

Ocean acidification is putting the Pacific Northwest shellfish industry in jeopardy

At Taylor Shellfish, we had the opportunity to talk with Bill Dewey, the company’s senior director of public affairs. Bill works with local and regional organizations, as well as the federal government, on issues related to the shellfish industry, which is a huge economic driver in the Pacific Northwest. Ocean acidification is a real crisis for the shellfish industry and not many people are aware of what it is or even that it’s happening at all. Since the beginning of the industrial revolution, we’ve been increasing the carbon in the atmosphere through our use of fossil fuels as well as deforestation and tilling of the land. The ocean absorbs roughly a third of the carbon in the atmosphere, and that is changing the ocean’s pH, making it more acidic and leading to a decrease in what are called carbonate ions, a critical component in the formation of shells and other structures that require calcium carbonate, like corals.