...Two scientists from Carnegie Institution, Rebecca Albright and Ken Caldiera, led a team of researchers to do an experiment that manipulated seawater chemistry in an all natural coral reef. The team of scientist wanted to find out the effect that excess carbon dioxide, caused by human activity, is having on the reefs. Based on what they saw it is already slowing coral growth. Since we burn coal, oil, and gas it results in carbon dioxide going into the atmosphere, it then acts as a greenhouse gas. Greenhouse gases have an affect on the world’s oceans as well as the atmosphere. Over time, an ocean can absorb the carbon dioxide over time. It then works with the ocean water to create an acid which is corrosive towards the reefs and other marine life, also known as ocean acidification. These scientists performed an experiment to see whether or not this does have an effect on our oceans....
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...Rachel Bowman Megan Hodgson ENG 201 1 April 2016 Annotated Bibliography: Ocean Acidification Research Questions: What is ocean acidification? What are the causes? What are the consequences? Blackford, Jerry C. "Predicting the Impacts of Ocean Acidification: Challenges from an Ecosystem Perspective." Journal of Marine Systems 60.2-4 (April 2010): 12-18. Science Direct. Web. 23 Mar. 2016. This journal answers all three of my posed research questions. Ocean acidification is marine uptake of carbon dioxide emissions. These emissions can come from two sources, anthropogenic: originating in human activity, and natural causes: respiration, decomposition, etc. The consequences range widely and greatly depend on future rates. There could potentially be changes in composition, size, structure and succession in ecosystems that would then lead to greater consequences, energy flow and resources. In the greater picture food sources and economics could also be a resulting consequence. The journal includes several models that try to predict the future pH of the ocean and the effects each pH will have. Dupont, S., O. Ortega-martínez, and M. Thorndyke. "Impact of Near-Future Ocean Acidification on Echinoderms." Ecotoxicology 19.3 (2010): 449-62. ProQuest. Web. 31 Mar. 2016. This article focuses on how severe the issue is. By 2100 carbon dioxide concentrations are predicted to double. The ocean, being a major carbon dioxide sink, absorbs more than half the excess carbon, causing huge impacts...
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...Ocean Acidification Ocean Acidification is an ongoing pressing issue that has been present within our underwater ecosystems for decades. The issue of ocean acidification poses multiple challenges to marine life along with straining the incomes of fishermen and shellfish farmers. The crucial matter that we are experiencing firsthand is that marine life is being threatened every day. (Kroeker, Kordas, Crim, & Singh, 2010). These threats are being imposed by a rise in atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration levels which as a result, reduces the pH levels of the ocean and is therefore threatening calcification rates, dissolution, development, and survival. (Kroeker, Kordas, Crim, & Singh, 2010). As oceans are consuming more carbon dioxide,...
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...Ocean Resources Paper (Option 2) Chelsea Ellis SCI/275 March 1, 2014 Tami McConnell Ocean Resources Paper (Option 2) Our oceans are at a greater risk than ever for acidification, dying coral reefs, over fishing, mercury pollution, litter, and trash you can actual see floating from space, and so much more. The oceans are our biggest resource for living, for life on Earth… they supply us with our air in every breath we take. Oceans gives us 50% to 70% of our air!! They need our help if we want to continue the joys of salt life and watching our fellow salt-water friends swim about happily. * Describe the problem and how it came about I would like to discuss acidification and the harms of it. I didn’t know that much about this problem before going into all the research, I knew our oceans we in dire need of help, but I had no idea how bad the acidification has gotten. Ocean acidification is when carbon dioxide (CO2) is absorbed by seawater and those chemical reactions that occur reduce the seawater pH, carbonate ion concentration, and saturation states of biologically important calcium carbonate minerals (NOAA, 2014). Our carbon footprint is killing not only the oceans animals, but we are killing ourselves here. Acidification is especially harmful to the little plankton, oysters, and shellfish. It’s harmful to the coral and the star fish that attach themselves to the coral, the fish that swim in the reefs, sea otters, and even the whales until eventually it finds...
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...Human Impacts on the Environment: Ocean Acidification Ecological human effects on the planet are now about 40% greater than the planet can support in a sustainable fashion (Grossman, 2010). One of the many areas with significant damage is the marine biosphere. Ocean acidification is a great threat to marine and subsequently human life. The pH level in the ocean has been a relatively constant 8.15 to 8.25 and organisms have evolved under these circumstances for over 50 million years. However since the end of the Industrial Revolution, worldwide burning of fossil fuels and human innovations such as concrete manufacture have resulted in the release of more than 440 billion metric tonnes of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Excess carbon dioxide from the atmosphere is dissolved in seawater which causes the concentration of hydrogen ions to increase. Approximately half of the carbon dioxide produced by fossil fuels is absorbed by the ocean. Were this not the case, climate change would be far worse. The term ocean acidification pertains to the lowering of the ocean’s pH. As carbon dioxide dissolves in water it forms carbonic acid, and as more and more is assimilated the pH decreases, and the seawater becomes less alkaline. Consequently the hydrogen ions react with carbonate ions in the water, forming bicarbonate. This causes the carbonate ion numbers to be greatly reduced, which in turn has a substantial effect upon the many species that take in carbonate from the water...
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...OCEAN ACIDIFICATION- ESSAY THURSDAY, JANUARY 24TH, 2012 Covering more than 70 percent of the Earth’s surface, the ocean is one of planet Earth’s most distinguishing characteristics. Over recent years, human activities such as the burning of fossil fuels have increased the amount of carbon dioxide gas emitted to the atmosphere and the amount that dissolves into the ocean. Now, so much carbon dioxide has been absorbed by the ocean that the chemistry of seawater is changing, causing the ocean to become more acidic. THE CARBON CYCLE Carbon dioxide is a critical part of Earth’s atmosphere; it traps heat and prevents the Earth from being covered in ice. Normally, the Earth’s carbon cycle maintains a natural balance of carbon in the atmosphere, land, and ocean through the “breathing of the planet”. However, since the beginning of the industrial era, emissions of carbon dioxide have climbed, and now are exceeding the capacity of the carbon cycle to maintain equilibrium between the atmosphere and ocean. Excess carbon dioxide traps more heat in the atmosphere, which changes the Earth’s climate. Not all of the excess carbon dioxide stays in the atmosphere. Scientists estimate that one-third of all the carbon dioxide produced by human activities has been absorbed by the ocean. The ocean’s removal of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere has undoubtedly helped curb the extent of climate change—but this benefit has come at a cost. The absorption of carbon dioxide is fundamentally changing...
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...Industrial Revolution in the eighteenth century, the accumulation of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has been a subject of discussion among scientists and people. Global Trepidation for the future with no sign of hope until the ocean's potential to absorb was discovered. It was learned that the ocean absorbed about 33% of the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere each year. This information reduced the alert of global warming until ocean acidification a co-existing partner of global warming and an enemy of the earth was discovered. Ocean acidification is known for its connection to global warming and also its effects on marine life. The purpose of this paper is to provide a deeper understanding of what ocean acidification, it effects...
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...Our oceans are a biome of mass complexity and diversity. Within this complexity lies a gentle balance of chemistry, cycles and the bizarre miracle behind the ocean’s existence. I was given the opportunity to embark on a marine excursion with my professors, Dr. Meile and Dr. Castelao, their teaching assistant, David Miklesh, and Dr. Medeiros. Throughout the course of this weekend, the fantastic four opened up a world to me that previously appeared all too familiar. Sapelo, Island, being practically in my backyard, encompasses what I view as home. However, my appreciation for my home grew vastly over the course of these three days. The Sapelo Island research retreat opened my eyes to various issues connected to groundwater, ocean salinity, tides...
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...increased by a staggering 40% (Doney, Fabry et al. 2009), resulting in a lesser known consequence: ocean acidification. Anthropogenic activities such as deforestation and burning of fossil fuels continue to drive these levels higher. (Doney, Fabry et al. 2009) Ocean acidification occurs when the pH of the seawater declines as CO2 dissolves in water by changes in temperature and sea-air gas transfers, causing changes in chemical balances. (Buck and Folger 2009, Kelly, Foley et al. 2011) Alteration of seawater chemistry generates considerable environmental, social and economic risks. These can begin from marine organism population crashing, resulting in ecosystem imbalances that impact human food resources...
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...Much attention has been focused on the effects of climate change on the ocean. Even with its vast capacity to absorb heat and carbon dioxide, the physical impacts of climate change on the ocean are now very clear and dramatic. The ocean’s water temperature is on a constant rise. The temperature isn’t rising in drastic numbers, but it is gradually rising and causing problems in our oceans. There are three major ways these warm temperatures are affecting our oceans such as coral bleaching, fish migration, and ocean acidification. Coral bleaching is caused when water is too warm, which the warm water causes the coral to expel the algae living in their tissues turning it completely white. Many species live on and thrive in coral reefs, along with the coral reef providing protection for many animals. Consequently, mass coral bleaching results in the starvation and death of the corals that support the thousands of species that live on coral reefs. Coral bleaching also results in the declining in genetic and species diversity. The effects of coral bleaching cause an abundance of problems toward the ecosystem and the species living on that coral....
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...Ocean Acidification The article that I read about is called “Why isn’t anyone talking about ocean acidification”. This article explains that climate change is not the only outcome of increased greenhouse gas concentrations, and that ocean acidification occurs when carbon dioxide dissolves (CO2) in ocean water, undergoing a chemical reaction that produces carbonic acid. The increase of ocean acidification is attributed to one main cause: an ongoing increase of carbon dioxide levels in the earth’s atmosphere. This increase of carbon dioxide is directly related to human activity, most notably the use of fossil fuels. For me it is really important to find ways to try to stop ocean acidification because it affects our world and also so many species...
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...Ocean Acidification Oceans play an integral part in sustainability of life. Comprising nearly 70% of Earth’s surface, they are the largest active carbon sinks, absorbing up to 30% of anthropogenic carbon dioxide (CO2) produced (Sabine et al., 2004). Anthropogenic CO2 absorbed by oceans form carbonic acid, which dissociates to produce hydrogen ions. This has alleviated the impacts of global warming to an extent. However, human activities such as burning fossil fuels and urbanisation have caused ocean acidity to increase by 26 % from preindustrial levels till today. (IPCC, 2014). Being terrestrial creatures, our focuses are on environmental impacts occurring on land, and less so in oceans. Yet, oceans are so fundamentally important that ignoring...
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...in the ocean, living with the sea creatures and living in the waters? In this essay, I will be writing about the acidification of the ocean. Ocean acidification is when the ocean absorbs carbon dioxide. Chemical reactions begin to occur and this helps reduce the pH of seawater. This chemical reaction can also lead to the creation of carbonic acid. Calcium carbonates can be found within the ocean which are the building blocks that help marine organisms in the sea be able to live and grow. The ocean has an abundance of calcium carbonate which allows sea life to build up their shells, to produce, and helps in skeleton formation. As time goes on, ocean acidity increases which becomes harmful to marine organisms. Ocean acidification can cause the nutrients in the ocean to disappear which becomes detrimental to all living sea organisms. This will hinder sea creatures to form shells and develop skeletal formation. Ocean acidification is very harmful to the ocean....
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...Geochemistry Pop Quiz 2 - 20/3/2013 Niall Smith - SF Earth Science 1) On what evidence is the statement “If current carbon dioxide emission trends continue, shells of marine organisms will start dissolving in some parts of the ocean sometime around mid-century” supported? Provide a short explanation and what you think are the two most relevant literature references illustrating your point. The scientific evidence which supports this statement originates from two distinct categorical sources - historical scientific evidence, and present day observations and corresponding scientific projections or estimates. The historical scientific evidence in question consists of observations of the fossil record around the time of the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary mass extinction event (65MYA). There is an observed vacancy or gap of the presence of carbonate shells at the end of the Cretaceous period in the fossil record, that were hugely abundant during the Cretaceous. This coincides with a meteor hitting the Yucatan peninsula in Mexico and causing the renown mass extinction. The geology of this peninsula in Mexico is dominantly cretaceous chalk, and on impact, heat and pressure from the collision released large amounts of gaseous sulfurous compounds (Caldeira, 2007). The mixture of gas, soot, ash and dust released in this enormous impact blocked the sun for possibly up to several months and profoundly interrupted insolation - the incoming solar radiation. This caused the extinction...
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...Period:9/10 Ocean acidification is sometimes referred to as “ climate change’s evil twin “. Ocean acidification is referred to “climate change’s evil twin” because it's a significant and harmful piece of excess carbon dioxide in the atmosphere that's invisible and untouchable because its effects are happening underwater. At first scientist was sure that this would be a good thing because it leaves very little carbon dioxide in the air to warm the planet. About one quarter of the CO2 is released by burning coal , oil and gas doesn't stay present but instead dissolves in the ocean. Since the beginning of the industrial era,the ocean had taken in 525 billion tons of CO2 from the atmosphere. When carbon dioxide dissolves in seawater, the water...
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