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Sea Change Relationship Human Activities And Ocean Acidification
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Like climate change and overfishing, ocean acidification will affect humans as well. Acidification will affect the food we eat since as most of our shellfish requires calcium carbonate to form or to fortify their shells. If shellfish disappear, the ocean food chain is weaker and the fish we catch for food will also be at risk of extinction. Healthy coral reefs are imperative as we rely on them for food, coastal protection, medicines, and tourism dollars.
The oceans play a massive role in the carbon cycle by absorbing carbon dioxide (CO2) from the upper layers of the ocean and transporting it to the ocean beds for storage. Phytoplankton absorb CO2 and sunlight to produce oxygen and carbohydrates. This is called the ‘biological carbon pump’.
According to a scientists in the video, if all of the carbon that sits at the bottom of the ocean were released back into the atmosphere, the amount of carbon currently in our atmosphere would double1. The scientists in the video explains that they know carbon exists down at the ocean’s depths because marine life that dies will sink to the bottoms of the ocean to decay producing this organic carbon1. This is important to know because it is such an important system, that without these phytoplankton at the start of the process that brings carbon to the ocean floor, then the atmosphere would contain two times its carbon
...oceans. Anthropogenic systems such as the combustion of fossil fuels since the industrial revolution have greatly increased the rate of acidification to levels where negative impacts ensue. Negative impacts occur both to marine organisms that rely on certain water conditions to maintain vital functions and the environment which is damaged by highly acidic waters. There is great variation in the acidity of each of the oceans, differences caused by the chemical composition of the ocean and biogeography. Understanding of the potential impacts of ocean acidification is relatively new to the scientific community and therefore little is known on how to counteract anthropogenic influences. Although reducing the amount of carbon dioxide produced will in turn reduce the lowering of the oceans acidity levels and reduce negative impacts on the environment and marine organisms.
Phytoplanktons are a very important part of ocean life. The carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is in balance with carbon dioxide in the ocean. During photosynthesis, phyto...
The increase in ocean temperatures are causing the reef to die out; reefs structures don’t have the ability to keep up pace with the ever so changing climate 4. Rigel suggests that coral reefs will eventually die out from the erosion of the warm ocean4. The increase in climate change is leading to ocean acidification. Much of the gases that enter our air from pollution also dissolves into the ocean. With this occurring, corals cannot absorb the calcium they need to maintain their skeletons. The stony skeletons that support coral reefs will dissolve. If nothing is done to stop so much carbon dioxide from going into the atmosphere, this will increase and more and more coral reefs will be destroyed and die
Given how important coral reefs are, the increasingly disappearance of our coral reef ecosystems will continue to have a detrimental impact on marine biodiversity with in these ecosystems. In addition to the decline of the animal species, job opportunities for many staff members that keep our parks open and healthy for everyone to enjoy, revenue be lost due to the decline in coral reefs. To help ensure this downward spiral in eliminated before it is too late, park officials and scientist conduct continuous research on the effects of ocean acidification and global warming on marine organisms and overall health and longevity of these ecosystems. Ultimately, the goal is to develop ways to intervene before it is to late in hopes that we can reverse the damage already inflicted on our coral reefs and allow these ecosystems to re grow once
With carbon dioxide levels continuing to rise over the past few decades (fig. 1) and now into the future, concern has been brought to what is happening to the carbonate chemistry of the oceans. Because of these changes in chemistry, the ocean is becoming more acidic. Along with climate change, ocean acidification may be one of the greatest threats to our planet. The higher the ocean’s acidity level goes, the lower the calcium carbonate levels will drop. Even though this is a big scale issue, my goal is to focus on and underline what these changes will mean for the marine life that depend on the calcium carbonate in seawater. I will go in depth with specific regards to a study regarding pteropods or sea butterflies.
Ocean Acidification is the act of CO2 dissolving into seawater, decreasing its alkalinity and increasing it's hydrogen ion concentration; making organisms sensitive to shifts in the water. Anything from temperature change to toxic waste inflicts some sort of change upon the ocean and the creatures it engulfs. As most people are aware, humans are altering the earth’s climate through producing greenhouse gas that is blanketing our atmosph...
The ocean has always absorbed CO2 from the air. An article presented in Nature August 2012 enlightens that about half of all CO2 generated by human is absorbed by the ocean. This chemical reaction is occurring naturally and the rate at which carbon is being absorbed, the concentration of carbonic acid is increasing. This has overwhelming concerns, particularly for shelled creatures. Animals such as corals, crabs, and calms need calcium carbonate to build their shells. Calcium Carbonate is dissolved by carbonic acid and consequently these animals are incapable of maintaining casings of calcium. Bio geosciences in 2010, suggested that carbon confiscation by oceans and land is lessening, which has the potential to further worsen the impact of carbon emissions.
Some studies have found “that atmospheric CO2 concentration is approximately 383 parts per million by volume (ppmv), a level not seen in at least 650,000 years, and it is projected to increase by 0.5% per year throughout the 21st century.” (Guinotte) “This is because…the ocean absorbs about a third of fossil fuel emissions, but this amount is likely to increase to 90% in the future.” (Bralower) As a result, “the chemistry of the world's oceans is changing at a rate not seen for 65 million years, with far-reaching implications for marine biodiversity and food security, according to a new United Nations study...” (Knight) “…This change is cause for serious concern [for] many marine organisms…, [because they] may not be able to adapt quickly enough to survive these changes.” (Guinotte)
Humans have a very large effect on the ecosystems of coral reefs. Sensitivity of coral reefs causes them to be more susceptible to harmful anthropogenic practices. Some of these are sedimentation, global warming, recreational activities, poison fishing, blast fishing practices, water pollution, and coral mining. All of these very different practices can effectively end up with the same results; the mortality of coral reefs around the world. Coral reefs are an important ecosystem of the world, and support many different industries and millions of people.
High carbon monoxide, ocean heating, glacial melt, acid rain, ocean acidification, and coral bleaching are just a small number of the adverse effects that we as humans are having on the planet. The earth’s waters are an excellent source to find out the adverse effects of climate change. The surface of the earth is covered in more water than land and knowing how our waters are affected is a key element to understanding the true dangers of climate change.
The coral reefs of the world are of vast importance because they host 25% of all marine life on the planet. Now that corals have been briefly described, we can see why the effects of climate change damage coral reef systems. Ocean acidification is a result of climate change. Acidification is caused by an increase in carbon dioxide in our oceans and leads to a decrease in the pH levels of seawater. This pH decrease reduces the ability of corals to make their hard skeletons.
As we learned from Bryson (2003), oceans help the environment by absorbing carbon dioxide and storing it away from the atmosphere. However, what allows the ocean to do such a thing? Microscopic phytoplankton is responsible for regulating the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. They are essential to the ocean ecosystems and they are also responsible for half of the photosynthesis and half of the oxygen on Earth (Annenberg Learner, 2007). Without the presence of microscopic plankton and the oceans locking away CO2, the amount of CO2 on Earth would double (Annenberg Learner,
Our oceans take a large beating every day by the extremely large amount of pollution humans produce. Our society easily dumps their waste into the oceans to dispose of the excessive amount of garbage, sewage, and chemicals, but this small and simple solution is creating an even bigger problem. The way humans dispose of their wastes is causing the death of our beloved marine life. Not only are we killing off our animals, our food source, and our resources, we are also minimizing our usable water. By having a better understanding of the problem on the severe dumping, it will be easier to find ways to help minimize the pollution that is going into the ocean.
To describe the long term implications of the Carbon Cycle, one must understand the cycle of life. For an organism to be created it must use up resources that are the basis for its survival. Carbon is one of the most crucial resources that is needed for life to survive. When an organism is created it uses up a specific set of resources, which include energy and carbon. The organism then grows and survives continually using up resources, which lower the available energy surrounding it, but increase the potential energy that it contains. When the organism finally reaches the end of its life cycle it begins to degrade, releasing all of its resources back into the environment (Kleidon, 2010). Carbon being one of its building blocks is released back into the environment. The carbon is then available once again for another organism or life cycle to use. This is the basis for the Carbon Cycle, there is a set amount of carbon available, thus when an organism uses it, it must be returned to the environment through life processes which are a result of entropy leading to a maximum point. The Water Cycle works in the exact same manor; however, it is not only used by organisms. Water, along with Carbon is crucial to the biotic and abiotic environments on Earth. The Water Cycle employed natural environmental