Environmental Issues Of Ocean Acidification

Ocean Acidification is a process that occurs everyday and majorly affects our planet, but most people don’t even realize it exists. Though it can technically be argued that Ocean Acidification has some benefits for the planet, most of the time the effects of this process are very poor and negatively affect the entire world around us. Human evolution has played a major role in contributing to Ocean Acidification. Whenever humans use energy we release Carbon Dioxide into the atmosphere or also known as CO2. This can be in the form of burning fossil fuels from the ground or the removal of national forest by burning. CO2 is a greenhouse gas, which means whenever we can emit it in large quantities or unnatural amounts it can have negative effects on the atmosphere. These high levels of CO2 in the atmosphere result in climate change and more specifically Ocean Acidification. Ocean Acidification occurs when excess Carbon Dioxide is absorbed into the ocean. When this process takes place it can completely disturb the chemical balances of the water. For example, it can reduce pH levels, Biodiversity, and the abundance of calcifying species.

G., Cong-Qiang, L., WeiDong, Z., Minella, M., Vione, D., Kunshan, G., & ... Hiroshi, S. (2016). Reviews and Syntheses: Ocean acidification and its potential impacts on marine ecosystems. Biogeosciences, 13(6), 1767. doi:10.5194/bg-13-1767-2016

This increase in oceanic inorganic carbon has offset the seawater carbonate chemistry by causing increasing concentrations of CO2 and bicarbonate, while causing decreasing concentrations of carbonate and pH levels (Dedmer 2013). Rost and colleagues (2008) express that emissions of fossil fuel have caused an immense increase in the levels of atmospheric CO2, which are then deposited into the surface water of oceans. This increase in carbonic acid is in turn decreasing the pH balance, which poses a threat to marine organisms.

Since the beginning of the industrial revolution, mankind has slowly increased the total greenhouse gas emissions that enter the atmosphere. Over time, this pollution began to add up. Now planet Earth is struggling to maintain its health with the combined forces of global warming and ocean acidification looking to bring demise. From all portions of the world, troubling changes are emerging in the chemistry of our oceans’ waters. The oceans takes in around a quarter of the Carbon Dioxide that mankind releases into the atmosphere every year, so as atmospheric Carbon Dioxide levels rise, so do the

Ocean acidification is becoming on of the most concerning subjects compared to global climate change. pH is the level of acidity, seven being neutral fourteen being most basic and zero being most acidic. The pH levels in the ocean are dropping and becoming more acidic. This is happening because of increasing carbon dioxide emissions. The ocean is taking in the carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

Ocean Acidification began over 200 years ago when the industrial revolution came along. This caused carbon dioxide levels to rise.

With emissions from cars and deforestation at an all time high, so is the amount of carbon dioxide being dissolved into the world’s oceans. There are seemingly endless things people could be doing to help stop this, but don’t. This is because ocean acidification is one of the least advocated problems. Ocean acidification is one of the largest factors affecting today’s oceans and affects every ocean organism.

The Earth is a very miniscule piece in a much grander puzzle called the universe. Within that tiny rock in space are complicated systems that help to sustain life. The atmosphere surrounding us is a mixture of many different components. It is composed of roughly 78% nitrogen, about 21% oxygen, and about 1% other, which includes carbon, the most fundamental element on Earth (Hopkins 2010). Carbon is present in the atmosphere as carbon dioxide (Hopkins 2010). Carbon dioxide may have a small presence in the earth 's atmosphere but it plays an important role in the processes within the ocean, having a huge influence over the chemistry of seawater carbonate and its equilibrium process (Hopkins 2010). One way it impacts the ocean is via a process called ocean acidification. Carbon dioxide is a compound that can be found in nature, but the elevated carbon dioxide levels caused by humans can have a lot of unintended consequences, particularly to the seawater carbonate chemistry (Hopkins 2010).

This threatens coral ecosystems, mussels, clams, and dozens of other species just on the ocean acidification side by weakening their protective barriers and altering the pH of the water. Polar bears, sea turtles, right whales, African elephants, and frogs are just some of the few animals being driven to extinction right now because of climate change. Obviously, these species are not dying off for no reason: the big bad guy is the results of rising levels of c02 due to human’s mass consumption of it for transportation, electricity, and industry. And scientists agree – “99 percent of currently threatened species are at risk from human activities,” says the Center for Biological Diversity, adding that global warming is one of the three main abusers. Ocean acidification is global warming’s “equally evil twin”, as Elizabeth Kolbert writes in her novel The Sixth Extinction. Clearly, human’s c02 waste is causing environmental issues that threaten and eventually extinguish plant and animal

In the modern industrial era, the levels of Carbon Dioxide produced are much more significant than in years before. Due to Carbon Dioxides involvement in ocean acidification, this is a major issue. Since the beginning of the industrial revolution, the pH of the ocean surface has fallen by 0.1 units. Although this may not seem significant, due to the logarithmic properties of the pH scale, this change signifies about a 30% increase in ocean acidity. If this issue isn’t addressed, there will be dire consequences for both marine organisms, as well as humans. To understand ocean acidification, some chemistry needs to be defined and understood.

Ocean acidification is the constant increase of acidity in the Earth’s oceans, caused by the unceasingly rising levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Anthropogenic CO2 is mainly emitted by the burning of fossil fuels, including coal, oil, and natural gas. Since the

When carbon dioxide enters the ocean, reacts with seawater, producing carbonic acid, which increases the acidity of water.  Increasing carbon dioxide emissions, mainly from burning fossil fuels for energy, have made ocean acidification 30% increase compared to pre-industrial levels. This has caused the pH of surface waters of the oceans has fallen 0.1 units.  If carbon emissions continue to increase at the current

As Dr. Stamper discussed, ocean acidification is a major factor that affects the environment. Both of these have had huge effects on the health and vitality of coral reefs. Since the Industrial Revolution, the pH of the ocean has decreased by 30% and this will have ramifications on the health of humans, food supplies and others. Dr. Stamper mentions himself that we are only focusing on calcium molecules in the acidification reactions instead of all the molecules and how they affect the organisms around them. He said changes in the normal calcification can lead to decrease muscle mass and decreased feeding which can harm the vitality of species in the ocean. He suggests gaining more control of our water usage since it generates 3% of our energy produced. In conjunction, he recommends people take personal steps in water conservation and energy conservation by buying energy efficient lights, low-flow toilets or dual-flush toilets, and gaining control of your heating costs by installing a low-energy system.

The effects of climate change on land are easily visible, with events like droughts and melting polar ice, for example, drawing considerable public attention. But out in the oceans, which cover over 70% of the globe, it seems that climate change effects are, for the most part, out of sight and out of mind. Our oceans contain between 50% and 80% of all the life forms on earth, and losing them would completely change the face of our planet, even if it wasn’t easily visible, at first.

Carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas that we exhale in our daily lives. Plants use carbon dioxide to create oxygen that all mammals use. However, carbon dioxide can also change the chemistry of the ocean, this is often referred to as ocean acidification. The excess carbon dissolves into oxygen in the water, producing a chemical called carbonic acid. This acid causes the ocean to become more acidic. In the eighteenth century, the pH was 8.07 which was slightly basic. Currently, the pH is around 8.01 this is about a twenty-five percent increase in acidity. (National geographic) While this slight change may not seem outrageous, it is causing multiple marine life struggles. The acid melts the shells of pteropods causing a low supply of food that would support larger fish.