Ocean acidification in the Mediterranean Sea: pelagic mesocosm experiments. A synthesis

• Published in: Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science
• Main Authors: Maugendre, L., Guieu, Cecile, Gattuso, Jean-Pierre, Gazeau, Frédéric
• Other Authors: Laboratoire d'océanographie de Villefranche (LOV), Observatoire océanologique de Villefranche-sur-mer (OOVM), Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6 (UPMC)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6 (UPMC)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2017
• Subjects: ocean acidification; plankton communities; mesocosm experiments; [SDU.OCEAN]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Ocean; Atmosphere; Ocean acidification
• Online Access: https://hal.sorbonne-universite.fr/hal-01436273; https://hal.sorbonne-universite.fr/hal-01436273/document; https://hal.sorbonne-universite.fr/hal-01436273/file/Maugendre_Ocean_acidification.pdf; https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecss.2017.01.006

International audience Planet Earth has entered a new geological era, the Anthropocene, in which geologically significant conditions and processes are profoundly altered by human activities (Waters et al., 2016). Among many impacts, human activities have released excessive amounts of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere leading to warming and ocean acidification: a decrease in pH and CO32- concentration and an increase in CO2 and HCO3- concentrations (Gattuso and Hansson, 2011). On average, at the global scale, surface ocean pH has decreased by 0.1 units since the beginning of the industrial era, equivalent to an increased acidity of 26% (Ciais et al., 2013). An additional decrease of pH is expected by 2100, ranging from 0.07 to 0.33, depending on the CO2 emission scenario considered (Gattuso et al., 2015).