The Pacific Ocean's Acidification Laboratory

摘要

The thermal vents of Maug Island offer a rare chance to study ocean acidification in situ, which gives us a glimpse of what the future might hold.rnFive years ago, at the quadrennial International Coral Reef Symposium in Okinawa, Japan, a poll of the scientists and resource managers present ranked ocean acidification 38th out of a list of 39 possible threats facing reefs, recalls Rusty Brainard, head of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA's) Coral Reef Ecosystem Division. Last year, at the same conference in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., "Acidification was mentioned almost everywhere."