NIFS announced that the ocean acidification* of Korean waters is growing faster compared to that of the North Pacific Ocean, which was based on the scientific analysis of regular marine environment monitoring data for recent 10 years (’15-’24) using its research vessels(R/Vs).

*Ocean acidification is the ongoing decrease in the pH of the Earth’s oceans, primarily caused by the absorption of excess carbon dioxide(CO2) from the atmosphere. This process makes the ocean more acidic. 

A review on ocean acidification jointly conducted by NIFS and POSTECH, in parallel with NIFS Serial Oceanographic Observation (NSO)*, has continued collecting and analyzing sea waters across the East, West, and South Sea by depth at around 80 stations three to four times a year since 2015. As of 2024, it obtained approximately over 8,000 data relevant for ten years.

＊NIFS Serial Ocenographic Observation (NSO): NIFS has observed regularly the climate environment and ecosystem in coastal waters of Korea using its research vessels (R/Vs) since 1961. 

It is very rare case and hard to be found even around the world to systematically observe the ocean acidification across a wide range of sea areas for a long time. 

The analysis of the obtained data showed that the pH of the East Sea had fallen by 0.040 units and the West and South Sea showed 0.055 and 0.029 decreases in pH levels.

When compared to the pH decrease (- 0.027) observed at the station near the Hawaiian Islands in the North Pacific, the decreases in the East and South Sea are 1.5 and 2 times higher while that of the West Sea stayed at a similar level. 

The analysis showed that such rapid acidification in Korean waters was mainly attributed to △ rising seawater temperature due to drastic ocean warming and △the ocean’s absorption of CO2 from the atmosphere. 

In addition, the data is being shared on the Global Ocean Acidification Observing Network GOA-ON, contributing to the global response to climate change while playing an important role to demonstrate Korea’s capacity in marine science to the world.