Monitoring Ocean Acidification within State Borders: Lessons from Washington State (USA)

Abstract

The Washington State Department of Ecology conducted a large-scale ocean acidification (OA) study in greater Puget Sound to: (1) produce a marine carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) system dataset capable of distinguishing between long-term anthropogenic changes and natural variability, (2) characterize how rivers and freshwater drive OA conditions in the region, and (3) understand the relative influence of cumulative anthropogenic forcing on regional OA conditions. Marine CO 2 system data were collected monthly at 20 stations between October 2018 and February 2020. While additional data are still needed, the climate-level data collected thus far have uncovered novel insights into spatiotemporal distributions of and variability in the regional marine CO 2 system, especially at low salinities in shallow, river-forced shelf regions. The data provide a strong foundation with which to continue monitoring OA conditions across the region. More importantly, this work represents the first successful long-term OA monitoring program undertaken at the state-level by a regulatory agency. Therefore, we offer the work described herein as a blueprint to help state and local scientists and environmental and natural resource managers develop, implement, and conduct long-term OA monitoring programs and studies in their own contexts and jurisdictions.

Recent developments in ionophore-based potentiometric electrochemical sensors for oceanic carbonate detection

“…Furthermore, analytical methods that depend on collecting and analyzing discrete samples seldom produce representative datasets with enough data points for high spatial and temporal resolution to fully capture substantial simultaneous changes in temperature, salinity, and biogeochemistry that characterize marine ecosystems. 55…”

“…Furthermore, analytical methods that depend on collecting and analyzing discrete samples seldom produce representative datasets with enough data points for high spatial and temporal resolution to fully capture substantial simultaneous changes in temperature, salinity, and biogeochemistry that characterize marine ecosystems. 55 Conversely, in situ analysis is an approach that can create high spatial and temporal resolution data sets and satisfy the need for real-time measurements. In situ measurements are those taken instantaneously at the given location, alleviating most of the logistical and economic challenges of sampling, pretesting procedures, and analysis.…”

Marine Bivalves’ Ecological Roles and Humans-Environmental Interactions to Achieve Sustainable Aquatic Ecosystems

“…Some efforts have been done by scientific research groups to monitoring these ecosystems, such as determining and quantification of metals [104][105][106], organic pollutants [107][108][109], and microplastics [110,111]. The ocean acidification impact [112,113], the development of technology [114], or even creation of marine sanctuaries [115] are other contributions to the monitoring programs. However, these programs are poorly funded by governments and are mainly dependent on the scientific research efforts, being crucial a more effective and higher financial support.…”

Modification of Proton Pump Membrane using Polyvinylpyrrolidone (Pvp) for Potential Total Alkalinity Sensing

“…There are four parameters to determine the ocean acidification in seawater which are pH, partial pressure carbon dioxide (pCO2), dissolve inorganic carbon (DIC) and total alkalinity (TA) [7]. TA determination is the best among the variables to measure the sensitivity of the stream acid data [8] as it can decide the seawater's ability to neutralize the acid [9].…”