Ocean acidification data synthesis for the North Sea

海洋酸化是大气中二氧化碳（CO2）增加的必然后果。当二氧化碳溶解在海水中时，它会增加氢离子浓度（H+），从而降低pH值。它还改变了碳酸根和碳酸氢根离子的浓度，增加了碳酸钙的溶解度。15 - 20年前就认识到这些化学变化可能产生严重的生物、生态和社会经济后果，此后在实验室中对海洋物种进行了许多实验研究，使用"一切照旧"的气候变化情景下预计未来出现的pH值（和pCO2）。还对海水化学的十年尺度变化进行了"开阔洋"测量，证实海洋酸化是一个真实的事件，但遗憾的是，直到最近才在也影响pH值和碳酸盐化学的过程（生物和物理）的自然空间和时间变化的背景下，努力测量陆架海和沿海沃茨的海洋酸化。这并不简单：英国（实际上是世界上）的一些实验室能够以必要的准确度和精度直接测量pH值本身，以检测长期变化;相反，pH值通常是从其他测量值计算出来的。这些其他的测量也有潜在的问题;需要技术技能和仔细的质量控制。虽然英国海洋酸化研究计划（UKOA），Defra资助的PLACID项目和欧洲其他地方的其他研究小组最近成功地对自然海洋酸化条件进行了必要的测量，但还没有人试图将这些信息汇集在“区域海洋”的基础上，以显示海洋生物目前从海面到海底经历的条件，其季节变化，以及当地因素在确定观测到的变异性方面的重要性。高分辨率模型可以模拟其中的一些过程，但还没有经过"真实的数据"的充分测试。通过在环境、渔业和水产科学中心（Cefas）工作，并与领先的海洋酸化研究人员和东安格利亚大学（UEA）的UKOA科学协调员联系，这一实习提供了一个近乎独特的机会，将参与海洋酸化观测和实验研究的研究界联系起来。Cefas在向环境、食品和农村事务部提供海洋咨询意见和证据方面发挥国家作用;因此，它将能够利用这次实习所收集的信息，作为未来国家环境状况报告以及欧洲和国际报告的基础。UKOA还将能够通过其许多国际联系人协助传播实习成果，包括与美国的合作（通过国家海洋和大气管理局的海洋酸化计划）;与参与海洋酸化测量的其他约30个国家（通过全球海洋酸化观测网络）;以及联合国机构（包括联合国教科文组织政府间海洋学委员会和《生物多样性公约》）。

Ocean acidification is an inevitable consequence of increasing carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere. When CO2 dissolves in seawater, it increases hydrogen ion concentration (H+) and hence reduces pH. It also changes the concentrations of carbonate and bicarbonate ions, increasing the solubility of calcium carbonate. The potential for these chemical changes to have potentially serious biological, ecological and socio-economic consequences was realised 15-20 years ago, and many experimental studies have since been carried out on marine species in the laboratory, using pH (and pCO2) values expected to occur in future, under 'business as usual' climate change scenarios. There have also been "open ocean" measurements made of decadal-scale changes in seawater chemistry, confirming that ocean acidification is a real event.What has - unfortunately - been lacking until recently is the effort to measure ocean acidification in shelf seas and coastal waters, in the context of the natural spatial and temporal variability of the processes (biological and physical) that also affect pH and carbonate chemistry. This is not straightforward: few laboratories in the UK (indeed in the world) are able to directly measure pH itself with the necessary accuracy and precision to detect longterm changes; instead, pH is usually calculated from other measurements. These other measurements are also potentially problematic; both technical skill and careful quality control are needed. Whilst the UK Ocean Acidification research programme (UKOA), the Defra-funded PLACID project and other research groups elsewhere in Europe have recently succeeded in making the necessary measurements of natural ocean acidification conditions, no-one has yet tried to bring this information together on a 'regional sea' basis, to show what conditions marine life currently experiences, from sea surface to seafloor, its seasonal changes, and the importance of local factors in determining observed variability. High resolution models can simulate some of these processes, but have yet to be fully tested against 'real data'.By working at the Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (Cefas) and linking with leading ocean acidification researchers and the UKOA Science Coordinator at the University of East Anglia (UEA), this internship provides a near-unique opportunity to connect research communities that are involved in both observational and experimental studies of ocean acidification. Cefas has a national role in providing marine advice and evidence to the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra); it will therefore be able to use the information brought together by this internship as the basis for future national environmental status reports, and for European and international reporting.UKOA will also be able to assist in disseminating the outcomes of the internship through its many international contacts, including those with the US (through the Ocean Acidification Program of the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration); with ~30 other countries involved in ocean acidification measurements (through the Global Ocean Acidification Observing Network); and with UN bodies (including the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO, and the Convention on Biological Diversity).