A changing Arctic Ocean

Thomas, David N.; Arévalo‐Martínez, Damian L.; Crocket, Kirsty C.; Große, Fabian; Große, Julia; Schulz, Kirstin; Sühring, Roxana; Tessin, Allyson

doi:10.1007/s13280-021-01677-w

“…Interactions comprising entanglement, ingestion and colonisation of debris have already been reported for species from the bottom of the food chain to top predators in Arctic waters (Parga Martínez et al, 2020;Collard and Ask, 2021;Bergmann et al, 2022;Botterell et al, 2022). While the effects of these interactions are largely unknown, Arctic ecosystems are already under threat from climate change (Thomas et al, 2022) and plastic pollution can only exacerbate its effects (Tekman et al, 2022). Action is thus urgently required to efficiently reduce plastic pollution from both local and distant sources.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Marine Debris Floating in Arctic and Temperate Northeast Atlantic Waters

Tekman

¹

,

Gutow

²

,

Bergmann

³

2022

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Floating marine debris is ubiquitous in marine environments but knowledge about quantities in remote regions is still limited. Here, we present the results of an extensive survey of floating marine debris by experts, trained scientists from fields other than pollution or non-professional citizen scientists. A total of 276 visual ship-based surveys were conducted between 2015 and 2020 in the Northeast (NE) Atlantic from waters off the Iberian Peninsula to the Central Arctic, however, with a focus on Arctic waters. Spatiotemporal variations among regional seas (Central Arctic, Barents Sea, Greenland Sea, Norwegian Sea, North Sea) and oceanic regions (Arctic waters and the temperate NE Atlantic) were explored. The overall median debris concentration was 11 items km-2, with considerable variability. The median concentration was highest in the North Sea with 19 items km-2. The Nordic seas, except the Central Arctic showed median concentrations ranging from 9 to 13 items km-2. Plastic accounted for 91% of all floating items. Miscellaneous fragments, films, ropes and nets, packaging materials, expanded polystyrene and straps were the most frequently observed plastic types. Although the median debris concentration in the Central Arctic was zero, this region was not entirely free of floating debris. The variations between regional seas and oceanic regions were statistically not significant indicating a continuous supply by a northward transportation of floating debris. The data show a slight annual decrease and clear seasonal differences in debris concentrations with higher levels observed during summer. A correlation between debris concentrations and environmental and spatial variables was found, explaining partly the variability in the observations. Pollution levels were 500 times lower than those recorded on the seafloor indicating the seafloor as a sink for marine debris. The Arctic was characterised by similar pollution levels as regions in temperate latitudes highlighting that Arctic ecosystems face threats from plastic pollution, which add to the effects of rapid climate change.

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“…Mechanistically understanding how these processes will critically tip the delicate balance of pH and carbonate dynamics in Arctic Ocean sediments is crucial. The Arctic Ocean is rapidly changing and will continue to do so (Huntington et al., 2022; Khosravi et al., 2022; März et al., 2022; Thomas et al., 2022; Tuerena et al., 2022). Here, we offer some systematic insights that can help in building a comprehensive picture for the entire Barents Sea shelf and foster further investigations to interrogate other biogeochemical drivers.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Benthic Organic Matter Transformation Drives pH and Carbonate Chemistry in Arctic Marine Sediments

Freitas

¹

,

Arndt

²

,

Hendry

³

et al. 2022

Global Biogeochemical Cycles

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The Arctic Ocean, and in particular its seasonally ice-free areas, is highly vulnerable to ocean acidification (OA) due to its large carbon dioxide ( 𝐴𝐴 𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴2) uptake capacity. It acts as a global hotspot of atmospheric 𝐴𝐴 𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴2 drawdown due to its permanently cold surface waters, its undersaturation with respect to 𝐴𝐴 𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴2 , and brine rejection during sea-ice formation that mixes surface 𝐴𝐴 𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴2 into deeper water layers (Chen & Borges, 2009;Kaltin et al., 2002). Air-sea 𝐴𝐴 𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴2 exchange exerts an important control on seawater pH and its carbonate saturation state (Ω) (Millero, 2000;Zeebe & Wolf-Gladrow, 2001). An increase in atmospheric 𝐴𝐴 𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴2 level (e.g., by anthropogenic emissions) can induce negative shifts in pH and Ω (Bindoff et al., 2019;Friedlingstein et al., 2019), leading to OA (Doney et al., 2020; Gattuso & Hansson, 2011). In addition to air-sea 𝐴𝐴 𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴2 fluxes, the carbonate chemistry of the Arctic Ocean is further modulated by the distribution of water masses with contrasting physico-chemical

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“…Mechanistically understanding how these processes will critically tip the delicate balance of pH and carbonate dynamics in Arctic Ocean sediments is crucial. The Arctic Ocean is rapidly changing and will continue to do so (Huntington et al, 2022;Khosravi et al, 2022;März et al, 2022;Thomas et al, 2022;Tuerena et al, 2022). Here, we offer some systematic insights that can help in building a comprehensive picture for the entire Barents Sea shelf and foster further investigations to interrogate other biogeochemical drivers.…”

Section: Implications For a Changing Arctic Oceanmentioning

confidence: 94%

Benthic Organic Matter Transformation Drives pH and Carbonate Chemistry in Arctic Marine Sediments

Freitas

¹

,

Arndt

²

,

Hendry

³

et al. 2021

Preprint

Self Cite

0

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The Arctic Ocean, and in particular its seasonally ice-free areas, is highly vulnerable to ocean acidification (OA) due to its large carbon dioxide ( 𝐴𝐴 𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴2) uptake capacity. It acts as a global hotspot of atmospheric 𝐴𝐴 𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴2 drawdown due to its permanently cold surface waters, its undersaturation with respect to 𝐴𝐴 𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴2 , and brine rejection during sea-ice formation that mixes surface 𝐴𝐴 𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴2 into deeper water layers (Chen & Borges, 2009;Kaltin et al., 2002). Air-sea 𝐴𝐴 𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴2 exchange exerts an important control on seawater pH and its carbonate saturation state (Ω) (Millero, 2000;Zeebe & Wolf-Gladrow, 2001). An increase in atmospheric 𝐴𝐴 𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴2 level (e.g., by anthropogenic emissions) can induce negative shifts in pH and Ω (Bindoff et al., 2019;Friedlingstein et al., 2019), leading to OA (Doney et al., 2020; Gattuso & Hansson, 2011). In addition to air-sea 𝐴𝐴 𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴2 fluxes, the carbonate chemistry of the Arctic Ocean is further modulated by the distribution of water masses with contrasting physico-chemical

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A changing Arctic Ocean

Cited by 9 publications

References 17 publications

Marine Debris Floating in Arctic and Temperate Northeast Atlantic Waters

Marine Debris Floating in Arctic and Temperate Northeast Atlantic Waters

Benthic Organic Matter Transformation Drives pH and Carbonate Chemistry in Arctic Marine Sediments

Benthic Organic Matter Transformation Drives pH and Carbonate Chemistry in Arctic Marine Sediments

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