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Link: Alaska Public Radio Network Water samples collected this spring from the Bering Sea and the Gulf of Alaska show acidification is happening more quickly and is more severe than in warmer parts of the planet. The cause is absorption of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, and it could hurt Alaska's fisheries. Acidification is problematic for any organism that forms a shell, including crabs, clams and much smaller organisms. "As the pH drops in their environment, they have to expend energy to internally regulate their pH. ... That's energy that they're not spending on growth and foraging and reproduction," says Jeremy Mathis, a UAF oceanographer.