Posted on KUOW.ORG: 29 Jul 2013 — By Katie Campbell
Credit EarthFix Photo/Katie Campbell The shellfish industry, which injects about $111 million each year into the Pacific Northwest’s economy, is particularly at risk from the threat of ocean acidification.
On Monday scientists from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration will begin a one-month US West Coast expedition to investigate ocean acidification, an issue that poses a serious threat to the Pacific Northwest’s shellfish industry.
“We will for the first time not only study the chemistry of acidification, but also study the biological impacts on the marine ecosystems in the open ocean,” says Richard A. Feely, a scientist from NOAA’s Pacific Marine Environmental Research Laboratory in Seattle. Feely is co-chief of the mission.