A century of change in the California Current: upwelling system amplifies acidification.

ABSTRACT: Predicting the pace of acidification in the California Current System (CCS), a productive upwelling system that borders the west coast of North America, is complex because the anthropogenic contribution is intertwined with other natural sources. A central question is whether acidification in the CCS will follow the pace of increasing atmospheric CO₂, or if climate effects and other biogeochemical processes will either amplify or attenuate acidification. Here, we apply the boron isotope pH proxy to cold-water orange cup corals to establish a historic level of acidification in the CCS and the Salish Sea, an associated marginal sea. Through a combination of complementary modeling and geochemical approaches, we show that the CCS and Salish Sea have experienced amplified acidificatio

SUBMITTER: Stoll MMV 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12615725 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature