14 DAY TRIAL // According to a new study whose findings will be thoroughly explained during this year's meeting of the Acoustical Society of America (October 22 – 26), ocean acidification will do more than simply negatively impact on coral reefs and various marine animal species.
Thus, this ongoing phenomenon is expected to alter the acoustics of aquatic environments to such an extent that their acoustical properties will be roughly the same as in the Cretaceous.
Apparently, this will in turn translate into underwater sounds traveling further than they presently do, which means that whales, for example, will be able to hear each other from twice as far than they now can.
"We call it the Cretaceous acoustic effect because ocean acidification forced by global warming appears to be leading us back to the similar ocean acoustic conditions as those that existed 110 million years ago, during the Age of Dinosaurs," researcher David G. Browning says.
The specialists who conducted this investigation explain that their findings are of utmost importance for those who are in the business of designing and manufacturing sonar systems.
As well as this, those who are in charge of implementing the legislation concerning sound pollution must give due consideration to this new ocean acoustics, so as to make sure that ongoing rules and regulations do in fact keep marine creatures safe from noises that might negatively impact on their overall wellbeing.
"It impacts the design and performance prediction of sonar systems. It affects estimation of low frequency ambient noise levels in the ocean."
"And it's something we have to consider to improve our understanding on the sound environment of marine mammals and the effects of human activity on that environment," David G. Browning goes on to explain.
It is expected that underwater sounds will be able to travel twice as far as they normally do as early as the year 2100.