Ocean Acidification Research Paper

Ocean acidification causes many problems with marine life. It affects both shelled and not shelled life in a negative way. With more acidity in the water, coral and shelled animals cannot build their shells or skeletons. Animals without a shell have interference with some basic bodily functions like growth and reproduction. The acidification of the ocean is caused by carbonic acid, which is formed by CO2 reacting with seawater. In fact, the ocean reduces global warming by absorbing one third of carbon dioxide. In recent studies, the acidic levels have increased by six percent in the last 15 years. There has not been a rapid shift in pH in millions of years and the marine life is not accustomed to it. Paleontology studies show that with a significant change, it usually led to huge losses of sea life. Due to the acidification, marine

life spend more time and energy trying to restore internal homeostasis instead of towards reproduction and growth, up keeping a strong immune system, and synthesizing protein. If the pH change was gradual and over thousands of years, then many species could evolve adaptations to survive better, but because this change is occurring in less than a hundred years, nothing can adapt to better survive this.

Fertilization is one of the functions that is harmed and dangerous for a species survival. When marine life release sperm and eggs, the sperm is only viable for a very limited time, and in the ocean, slow sperm have a high probability of not reaching the eggs. If the eggs are fertilized in some species, the growth is slower and if the eggs hatch, the organisms are much slower and are more susceptible to predators leading to rapid decline in population along with even less organisms hatching. Some phytoplankton species cannot absorb iron due to the acidification and they produce a great amount of oxygen humans breathe. The acidification mostly harms organisms lower on the food chain, which in turn starves the organisms higher up leading to less commercial fishing. Some organisms may adapt due to short reproductive cycles, but those with longer cycles have less of a chance of their off springs mutating and

surviving. There is no way to know which species can adapt and survive, leading to a decline in biomedical and pharmaceutical resources. Also, because there is so much CO2 concentration, the ocean will absorb less and CO2 in the atmosphere will increase even faster, causing global weather changes to accelerate. Scientists are hoping to stabilize CO2 emission levels before it becomes too late for marine life and because it’s easier to prevent more damage than to reverse the changes that have already happened.