The ocean is noisier because of air pollution

The increase in atmospheric CO ₂ makes ocean acidification become more serious.

In addition to the negative impacts on marine ecosystems, ocean acidification can also make sound travel longer distances in the seabed.

This change affects the interactions of aquatic mammals, especially those that communicate with sound waves, and many scientific, commercial, military applications.

"The relationship between ocean acidification and the sound absorption of water is obvious. After calculating, I find its impact much greater than most of us think." , Peter Brewer, an expert at Monterey Bay Aquarium, California, USA, said.

The noise at the bottom of the ocean makes the communication of many mammals more difficult.

Scientists know that ions (molecules that carry electric charge) in seawater absorb sound waves. However, the absorption capacity of ions will decrease as the acidity of the sea water increases.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change predicts that, by the middle of the century, the pH of the surface water may be reduced by 0.3 from the period before the industrial revolution due to the rise of carbon dioxide (CO ₂ ). Until then, according to Peter Brewer's calculations, sound could travel up to 70% further.

Peter's team emphasized that the amount of artificial CO2 absorbed by the oceans reduced the ability to absorb sound by up to 10% in the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. Even in some parts of the Atlantic, the level of decline is up to 15%.

According to the team, their calculations are still far behind the real numbers, because they cannot calculate the amount of CO2 from the atmosphere.

"Because the noise level in the ocean floor increases, animals that communicate with sound waves cannot receive the message of their kind. Those that do not communicate with sound waves also suffer from disastrous consequences , " Peter said.