Essay On Ocean Acidification

The first major effect that Ocean Acidification has is the reduction of pH levels in the ocean. PH is very important in this case because it generally determines how acidic water is. The normal pH balance of water is 7. When Ocean Acidification occurs the pH levels in the ocean can dip below 7 therefore increasing the acidity of the water. Even though humans may be able to adapt to these kind of changes other species in the ocean cannot. Scientists estimate that by the end of this century Ocean Acidification can consequently cause the acidity of ocean water to increase by nearly 150%. That level of acidic water hasn't been seen or thrived in for almost 20 million years. Before major industries were created increasing CO2 in the atmosphere, the ocean relied on minerals carried into the ocean by rivers and lakes to balance out pH levels. Now that humans are producing too much Co2 for the atmosphere to handle the rivers and lakes can not carry enough minerals to keep pH in balance. If pH levels continue to fall major populations that call the ocean home will no longer exist. All it

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

Especially in the last two hundred years, carbon dioxide has increased in the atmosphere. This is happened in effect of the constant burning of fossil fuels and land use change. In the ocean, carbon dioxide reacts with seawater to form carbonic acid.The ocean actually absorbs thirty percent of all of the carbon dioxide emitted in the atmosphere. When

About half of that man-made CO2 has been absorbed by the oceans, increasing the concentration of carbonic acid, which has caused the oceans to become more acidic. Over the past 300 million years, ocean pH has averaged about 8.2. Today, it is around 8.1, a 25% increase in acidity over the past two centuries. That increase is projected to reach 150% by the end of this century, a rate of change not seen in 65 million years. A more acidic ocean inhibits shell growth in marine animals such as corals, crustaceans and mollusks, and disrupts entire food chains all the

The authors of the article starts by explaining ocean acidification, the aftermath of excessive carbon dioxide reacting with seawater resulting in carbonic acid, could negatively affect one of the core strategies of survival: sex (p.68). As the ocean decreases in pH level, marine life is impeded and interfered. Shells and skeletons of clams and mussels become harder to develop and the health of countless organisms are threatened. Although the oceans absorb one-third of all CO2 produced by humans thus reducing global warming, it is at the expense of organisms in the sea (p.69).

Over the past couple of years, no other issue has received more attention in the marine community than ocean acidification. Marine biologists have been constantly working towards solving this issue and are hoping to see improvement’s very soon. Ocean acidification refers to the relentless growth in acidity of the Earth’s oceans. This on-going acidity has attributed to an important element; a constant rise of carbon dioxide levels in the Earth. The number one reason this issue is still happening is because of burning fossil fuels. In addition to burning fossil fuels, it has come to a point where it has enlarged a large amount of carbon dioxide by releasing it into the atmosphere. Chemists have taken this issue into attention that carbon enters the ocean and combines with seawater to fallout acid, which boosts the level of acidity. This process is known as ocean acidification.

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

Climate change is quickly affecting many social and economic sectors, both directly and indirectly. This is particularly true within the natural habitat sector, as varying impacts on global biodiversity threaten the existence of many species world-wide. While many problems such as warmer temperatures and rising sea levels are attributed to increasing carbon dioxide (CO2), there is one crucial problem that is often overlooked: Ocean acidification. As pH levels in the ocean fluctuate, there are devastating effects on sensitive marine ecosystems and individual species. Increased acidic conditions can pose threats to habitats, such as coral reefs and sea grasses (Guinotte and Fabry 320). These living habitats rely on calcium carbonate to form strong external structures, yet higher pH levels inhibit the organisms’ ability to successfully absorb the compounds needed for this process. Additionally, higher levels of ocean acidification can induce decreases in skeletal-forming compounds, diminishing entire populations of small ocean organisms such as crustaceans and phytoplankton (Doney). Therefore, it can be deduced that the increase of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere cripple the marine wildlife ecosystems, because the addition of greenhouse gases, caused primarily by anthropogenic conditions, are acidifying the ocean and disrupting the bio-chemical compounds that are necessary for many marine species to survive.

Ocean acidification isn’t hard to understand because the name is self-explanatory but in simpler terms, carbon dioxide is pushed into the water become more acidic. Ocean acidification has much effect on how the flora and fauna of the sea adapt and live. The “subtle change in chemistry lowers the water’s saturation in aragonite” that Slezak (1) explains can be very effective how coral grow and build. Currently, oceans are staying at a rate of 3.8 aragonite saturation which isn’t entirely horrible but slezak (1) mentions many scientists believe “corals will stop building reefs when the saturation state drops below 2.5”. However, coral will just begin to ache once it hits the 2.5 point, but it’s “not a point of no return beyond to which they

Ocean acidification is the decrease in the acidity levels of the Earth 's oceans, caused by the intake of carbon dioxide emitted in to the environment and atmosphere. Since the industrial revolution, fossil fuel-powered machines have increased human technology and advancement. However, this has caused the emissions, large amounts of carbon dioxide, deforestation, and other greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. Ocean acidification, in turn, has created a benefit to us by slowing down climate change by absorbing the emissions in the water that have remained in the air. However, studies are now starting to show that the massive amounts of carbon dioxide in the water bodies are altering the water chemistry and affecting the biodiversity and life cycles of many marine organisms, especially those at the lower end of the food chain. Other organisms living off the food chain would be part of a symbiotic relationship involving nutrient cycling: where all other organisms are feeding off of the larger one, yet are providing some benefit to the overall host.

Ocean acidification means an ongoing decrease in the pH of the Earth’s oceans, caused by the uptake of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Around 30-40% of the CO2 released by humans into the atmosphere dissolves into oceans, rivers and lakes.

obal Warming is caused by the built up of carbon dioxide and other air pollutions. These absorb sunlight and solar radiation, trapping the heat which causes global temperatures to rise. Ocean Acidification is caused when the ocean absorbs carbon dioxide from the air causing it to be acidic. Scientist believe that the ocean has absorbed about half of the excess carbon dioxide in the past 200 years. This has caused a drop of 0.1 in ph. Since the pH scale is logarithmic, this change represents a thirty percent increase in acidity.

I think that the increase in the atmospheric levels of CO2 will definitely have a negative impact (ocean acidification) on coral reefs. Not only would it cause problems with the pH levels but it affects the balance between bicarbonate and carbonate ions. “Oceans are ready 30% More acidic than they were 200 years ago” (European Science Foundation, 2010). With the comparison of current percentages to those from before the industrial revolution, “proportions of bicarbonate and carbonate ions in surface tropical seawaters shifted from 88% and 11%, respectively, to 90% and 9%, respectively” (DUJS, 2012). Coral reefs are specifically vulnerable to ocean acidification because when calcification decreases the reef building capacity also decreases. Kleypas and Langdon have lately demonstrated that: “doubling pre-industrial concentrations of atmospheric carbon dioxide decreases the calcification rate of corals and coralline algae by 10 to 50%. Furthermore, the decrease in the calcium carbonate saturation state led to increases in reef dissolution rates. Anderson predicts that dissolution of carbonate salts will more than triple by the year 2300. Altogether, the decline in reef calcification and the rise in reef dissolution contributed to the thinning and disappearance of coral reef ecosystems” (J.A. Kleypas. 2009).

Ocean acidification occurs because CO2 is dissociating in oceans causing a decrease in CaCO3 concentration (Pandolfi et al. 2011). This occurs because CO2 hydrogen ions race for the carbonate in CaCO3. This leads to a low rate of skeletal growth because the coral reefs make their skeleton of CaCO3, and since CO2 is interfering, coral reefs have difficulties growing, therefore slowly become weaker and weaker (Pandolfi et al. 2011). Ocean acidification also causes low skeletal density and structural complexity and trade-off in the use of resources for growth vs. reproduction.

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.