14 DAY TRIAL // This might sound just a tad crazy, kind of like the news that NASA wants to launch a submarine into space, but as it turns out, scientists are seriously considering using high-tech satellites to study the chemical makeup of Earth's seas and oceans all the way from space.
More precisely, they want to use satellites to keep tabs on ocean acidification and its impact on aquatic ecosystems. As explained by researchers with the University of Exeter in the UK, such pioneering techniques would especially come in handy in harsh regions like the Arctic and the Antarctic.
First things first, here's what ocean acidification is all about
Writing in the journal Environmental Science and Technology, University of Exeter specialists explain that, of the carbon dioxide emissions that we humans produce on a yearly basis simply by burning fossil fuels and making cement, some 25% is absorbed by global seas and oceans.
The more carbon dioxide emissions we cough out, the more of this chemical compound ends up in aquatic environments, increasing their acidity and threatening the creatures that inhabit them. It is this increase in the carbon dioxide content of seas marine ecosystems that scientists call ocean acidification.
At this point, some might be tempted to ask why we, land-dwellers, should care what happens to sea and ocean creatures. After all, it's not like fish or octopi toss and turn in their beds at night worrying about us. Well, the thing about seas and oceans is that we very much depend on them to stay alive.
Simply put, marine ecosystems count as a food resource for us human. Hence the fact that having ocean acidification destroy them one by one is something we should all be concerned about. More so seeing how, as already pointed out, this phenomenon is man-made.
Using satellites to monitor ocean acidification
Together with scientists with the Plymouth Marine Laboratory in the UK, the European Space Agency and other research facilities, specialists with the University of Exeter are now working on developing a new generation of satellites designed to study ocean acidification from space.
The idea is to launch such probes to an altitude of about 700 kilometers (roughly 450 miles) and have them use thermal cameras and microwave sensors to measure the temperature and the salinity of global seas and oceans. The data obtained in this manner could help assess ocean acidification.
In their paper in the journal Environmental Science and Technology, the University of Exeter scientists explain that such satellites would not only make it possible to study large bodies of water in a fairly short period of time but would also allow researchers to focus on remote regions that are hard to reach.
“Satellites are likely to become increasingly important for the monitoring of ocean acidification, especially in remote and often dangerous waters like the Arctic. It can be both difficult and expensive to take year-round direct measurements in such inaccessible locations,” explains Dr. Jamie Shutler.
Interestingly enough, it looks like several satellites that are already in Earth's orbit could be used to study ocean acidification even though they were not designed for this purpose. Among them are the European Space Agency’s Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity, launched in 2009, and NASA’s Aquarius satellite, launched in 2011.