A Bigelow Laboratory senior research scientist has said ocean acidification is increasing faster than at any other time in history.

Stephen Archer, a biochemist, predicts ocean acidification will increase three-fold over the next 100 years. During a July 21 discussion sponsored by Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences, he described what the ocean may look like in 2115 based on current trends.

The discussion was part of the laboratory’s Cafe Scientifique: a weekly summer discussion about oceanic and other science issues.  Archer was the featured speaker this week at the Boothbay Harbor Opera House.

Archer’s topic was “Predicting Ocean Acidification Over Next 100 Years.” About 60 audience members heard him explain that higher ocean acidification levels were inevitable. He studies how elevated carbon dioxide levels increase the oceans’ Ph. level, which in turn causes more ocean acidification. 

About 60 audience members heard him describe his research methods and findings.

He reported that oceans have been accumulating carbon dioxide for thousands years. The oceans would become more acidic as those gases continue to work its way to the surface.

“We’ve got to live with the carbon dioxide increase. Even if we tried to stop it tomorrow, we couldn’t,” he said.

Since scientists aren’t able to prevent the carbon dioxide gases rising to the surface and increasing the ocean’s acidity, they study the potential impact. Archer has researched the issue for 25 years. He explained how his research team studied marine environments in both arctic and tropical waters. His team introduced an accelerated amount of carbon dioxide to sections of these bodies of water to see how it impacted micro-organisms’ life.

The research showed that phytoplankton and other micro-organisms either thrived or struggled.

Archer said coming to a scientific conclusion was difficult because his study introduced only one factor (carbon dioxide) into the environment. He compared this to a species’ natural habitat which has thousands of factors impacting their lives.

His research showed that organisms adapted to the changing surroundings.

“There were some winners and losers,” Archer said. “But what we saw was that the organisms began to adapt to the biological conditions around them.”

Archer explained his research didn’t discover anything new. He said both land and sea species have adapted to their surroundings since the beginning of time. He briefly discussed Darwin’s theory of evolution to support his prediction that marine organisms would adapt, mutate, and evolve as their surroundings changed.

Archer also took questions about how ocean acidification had impacted the local area. He described the Gulf of Maine as being more impacted by ocean acidification than most other bodies of water. One audience member asked if ocean acidification caused several marine creatures such as starfish, sea urchins and sand dollars to seemingly disappear in the local waters.

Archer responded other environmental factors such as predators were the likely cause for those creatures’ disappearance, not ocean acidification.