Pilot study on CO² in the sea

Street boys who sniff petrol and beg from passers-by have become an ever more common sight on South African streets. More and more small boys live on the street. Most of them have lost their parents to AIDS.

"There is a lack of research on the effect of CO² on the biology in seawater. We know that rises in CO² emissions have important effects on the climate. Now we want to know if the same is true for marine organisms", say marine biologists Ingrid Zondervan and Ulf Riebesell, who are on their first visit to Norway.

With support from the EU Ingrid Zondervan and other scientists can carry out important marine research in Western Norway.

Together with scientists from France and Belgium they have spent all June performing large-scale experiments in the sea off the field station at Espegrend near Bergen. Their study is coordinated by the Alfred Wegner Institute in Germany and the scientists have come to Norway via the Research Infrastructure Programme (see fact box).

Every day the group go out in a boat to make measurements in large containers submerged in the sea. They are trying to determine the effects of increased emissions of CO² on phytoplankton (plant plankton) production.

"We also want to find out is whether CO²-saturated seawater takes up more or less CO² than seawater with a lower level of CO²", says Ulf Riebesell. He says that if we continue to emit climate gases at this rate the concentration of CO² in the sea will double by 2100.

Pilot study

The effects of higher concentrations of CO² on phytoplankton growth are measured by comparing the pre-industrial period, today and the expected level in 2100.

"At the moment we do not know whether the difference in CO² concentrations affects organisms in the sea. We are particularly interested in a an alga with a tiny calcium shell, known as Emiliania Huxley", says Ingrid Zondervan, who emphasises that this is a pilot study.

"We have never previously tested the effects of CO² concentrations on the whole of the plankton community in seawater. With these data we will be able to check whether what we have found in the laboratory is valid", she says.

No problems with a cold summer

The fact that Norway in June can be cold doesn't matter, say the scientists when a chilly north wind blows away the clouds over Espegrend and stirs up waves on the way out to the measuring station.

"This facility is unique; there is just nothing like it in Europe. The archipelago protects our experiments from the weather, and the facilities are very good, with first-class equipment and expertise", says Ingrid Zondervan.

"This is one of the most popular facilities", says Jorunn K. Egge, senior lecturer in the Dept. of Fisheries and Marine Biology. She believes that one of the main reasons for this is that experiments carried out at Espegrend are very cost-effective.

"You don't have to transport so much equipment, because we have everything we need out here in the same place", says Egge, who also emphasises the advantages of working in a fjord, where there is little chance of the whole experiment blowing away.

European scientists returning to shore at field station at Espegren, Bergen.