OCEAN ACIDIFICATION
BACKGROUND:
Covering about more than 70% of the surface of the Earth, the oceans are one of the most important and distinguishing characters of the planet Earth. The oceans play a central role in the Earth’s major processes. They are the hosts of millions of species of organisms that inhabit millions of ecosystems.
Carbon dioxide released due a variety of human activities has decreased the pH of water in the ocean. Evidences show that previously surface waters of oceans were slightly alkaline, now these are becoming more and more acidic. Previously the average pH of ocean water was 8.2 before the era of industrialization. Currently there is a decrease of 0.1 which actually represents 30% increase in the acidity of the
…show more content…
It is estimated that pH will continue to drop till 0.3 to 0.4 by 2100. (Jackson 2010)
BIOLOGICAL IMPACTS OF OCEAN ACIDIFICATION:
Ocean acidification has many harmful impacts on living organisms. Ocean acicdifcation changes the ocean chemistry and this can disrupt the entire marine food web. It affects the life of organisms inside the water in a variety of ways. Few impacts of ocean acidification of different organisms are discussed briefly below. • Effects of ocean acidification on phytoplankton: -
On land, the plants prepare their own food by photosynthesis, these photosynthetic plants take up carbon dioxide for the process of photosynthesis from diffusion. Although there are some examples of plants which take up CO2 actively. The result is that an increase in atmospheric CO2 generally has a positive effect on their photosynthesis and their growth.
One the other hand, most marine plants take in their CO2 for photosynthesis actively by concentrating mechanisms in the form of CO2 or bicarbonate or both of these. Due to this reason the changes which occur in the pH of ocean water and CO2 content of water has very less effect on their
Castello Argonese, a tiny island in the Tyrrhenian Sea gives us an enlightening glimpse of Earth in 2100. Chapter six of the book The Sixth Extinction by Elizabeth Kolbert, is solely devoted to her experience in these waters where the vents on the sea floor bubbled up almost 100% carbon dioxide. She talks about the consequences of constantly burning fossil fuels to add about 365 billion metric tons of carbon into the atmosphere and how it could lead to our own demise. The thing about carbon dioxide is that the moment it interacts with water, it becomes an acid which can be deadly to the animals living in these oceans obviously, but also to organisms above sea which includes humans. Elizabeth Kolbert wants us to understand that our actions have tragic consequences and we too will be part of that tragedy if we don’t stop now.
Ocean acidification is killing off the oyster population, which is also affecting the jobs in Washington. Initially, ocean acidification is when acidic gases are emitted into the air and absorbed into the ocean. According to the video Ocean Acidification by NOAA, ¼ of all the carbon dioxide release into the air is absorbed into the oceans. Some major contributors to carbon emissions are automobile gas and factory emissions. This is a problem in the Pacific Northwest because acid sinks to the bottom, but Pacific winds bring acidic water up from the bottom near the shore by the shellfish.
Climate changes caused by ocean acidification will not only affect animals and plants, but will have an impact on our surroundings. Global climate change threatens coastlines and the buildings and cities located along them. Many people around the world live in low–lying areas near the coast that could be flooded as the sea level rises. If something is not done to prevent excess carbon dioxide, it will leave lasting
She concludes with the use of emotional appeals and logical appeals with the statement, “The excess carbon dioxide has also made oceans more acidic, causing long-term damage to corals and many other marine species, research shows”. The entire essay is composed of many facts that Khan
Based on the graph in figure 2, it is visible that the process of the pH rising in the Scenedesmus Obliquus is when the algae is present in a light dependent area. Based on figure 2, the results show that the Scenedesmus Obliquus in a dark environment lowered the pH but not drastically. Using a study from Studocu, you can see that when the algae beads are put under a light, the pH will turn higher and there will be less CO2 in the algae beads (4). The study shows that as you begin to manipulate the main energy source that photosynthesis has, the results of photosynthesis will begin to differ. The amount of CO2 rises when darkening the environment that the Scenedesmus Obliquus are in.
Some coastal habitats may disappear if organisms are unable to migrate inland because of topography or human infrastructure. This is expected to affect shorebirds and small forage fish, among other species. Warmer waters in regional estuaries, including Puget Sound, may contribute to an increase in harmful algal blooms, which could result in beach closures and declines in recreational shellfish harvests. Ocean acidification is also expected to negatively impact important economic species, including oysters and Pacific
Should water companies be blamed for the pollution of the ocean? Plastic and garbages have been polluting our water for years. Many people who litter on the ocean have been a harm to the fish and marine mammals. The marine plastic pollution has impacted about 267 species worldwide. This includes 86% sea turtles species and 44% of all sea birds species.
What also has been rising is the acidity levels in the ocean, and you might think "oh this is because people take out water from the ocean and just put the extra salt back" but not quite, scienceandpublicpolicy.org states that "The pH of average ocean surface water is 8.1 and has only decreased 0.1 since the beginning of the industrial revolution (neutral is pH 7, acid is below pH 7)", so the acidity level in the ocean hasn 't risen that much since the beginning of the industrial era due to the pH only decreasing by 0.1 which is not as much as you 'd have
Over time our planet has become increasingly more industrialized. More factories have been built and increased air pollution has been found all over the world. The surface temperature of the ocean has been steadily increasing as well since the 1950’s (Source B). This has led to people to believe that the surface temperature of the ocean correlates with air pollution.
About 71 percent of our planet Earth is covered by water, and the majority comes from the oceans (about 96.5 percent of all Earth’s water). It remains as the most expansive, diverse, and mysterious places on planet Earth. But it is being threatened by the pollution by people and nature itself. By polluting the habitat of marine organism will indirectly affect the ecosystem of the marine life. Marine life is dying and as the result the oceanic ecosystem is threatened.
Water Pollution is a huge environmental problem that has serious effects on marine habitats, animals, and water quality. BP1: The world's marine habitat has been getting worse because of how bad the pollution has gotten. “ Over 80% of marine pollution comes from land based activities “ (source 5 ). This quote explains how most of the water pollution is caused by human activity. “ Plastic litter does not degrade, can be expected to last in the oceans for hundreds of years “ ( source 6 ).
Modern human life is polluting the world. The products that make our life livable, are a big threat to the oceans. Even places that are untouched by mankind, are experiencing the effects of pollution. Entire populations of fish species are being wiped out by overfishing, not even mentioning the species caught as bycatch. The oceans suffer a lot from pollution as well.
Ever since the industrial revolution commenced, around one third of the carbon dioxide released by human interference has been absorbed by the ocean, which is one of the reasons of the drastic change in climate as well. Without the ocean absorbing carbon dioxide, the carbon dioxide n the atmosphere would be drastically higher, with possibly increasing the levels of climate change. The point of the research is to see how will the pH affect the organisms in the marine ecosystem and does carbonation affect an organism’s mass and form. Many organisms that are part of the marine food chain are going to be affected by ocean acidification due the levels of acidity deteriorating the calcium carbonate within the animal. It turns out
Pollution is the introduction or release of substances or energy that decrease the quality of the marine environment. Many pollutants are toxic of harmful to marine life (Castro and Huber, 2010). South Africa is known around the world for being one of the most diverse marine environment in the world, with 83% of the known fish families residing in South Africa (Van der Elst, 2007). There are also many marine species that are endemic to South Africa, which means they are only found in South Africa. Almost 30% of the South African population lives on the coastline (Taljaard et al. 2006), which has led to the urbanization of the coastlines and which then led to the industrialization of these areas.
The ocean is nowadays undergoing numerous environmental issues that further lead to marine pollution. Marine pollution is a very serious environmental issue that most of the countries of the world encounter. Aquatic littering is considered as one of the major causes of marine environment. The misleading use of the marine environment is extremely impacting the marine life and ecosystems. Moreover, the total amount of toxins and debris discharged by human beings is incredibly increasing in today 's world.