Ocean Acidification in the Pacific Northwest

http://www.restorationfund.org/projects/ocean

The Pacific Northwest coast has benefited from upwelling along its coast, which brings cold, nutrient rich water from deep in the ocean up to the coast for many years. This water last contacted the surface between thirty and fifty years ago. Unfortunately this deep water accumulated a lot of acidity from the atmosphere then and now the upwelling is acidifying the coast and killing or harming many of the molluscs and other residents of the coast. It will take another fifty years for waters that are absorbing the current CO₂ in the atmosphere to resurface.¹⁸

The Makah tribe lives at the tip of the Olympic Peninsula and has been fishing and collecting molluscs for at least 2000 years. The Makah tribe still relies heavily on harvested molluscs and other sea life from the coast. As ocean acidification has started to harm their food source, they worry about the future. Unlike hatcheries that have the money and facilities to control the content of their water or move to different locations, the tribe must rely on the coast that is contained within their reservation. They can't move or protect their food source if conditions get worse.¹⁷

Micah McCarty, a former chairman of the Makah tribe worries that
ocean acidification will impact the Makah community through the loss 

of traditional food and crafts. ¹⁷