...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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...Describing Ocean Acidification Ocean Acidification is the amount of acidity in the water. The pH scale is beginning to drop from a base to an acid. The ocean is close to the atmosphere which causes it to absorb large quantities of carbon dioxide. This reacts with the ocean's water and creates carbonic acid. Each molecules of carbonic acid then releases 2 hydrogen ions that increase the ocean's acidity, Therefore it dissolves the calcium in the shells and disposed most carbonate in the ocean that marine life needs to build their shells. Rising ocean acidity is clearly a huge fast growing problem for both us and the planet. Various amounts of life will suffer as the pH level increases, leading to collapses in the food chains and pyramids....
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...Acidification Acidity levels in oceans are on the rise, which could have many adverse affects on marine life. (Johnson 2014) The primary contributor to the increased levels of oceanic acidity is human activity. Human activity has made great leaps in the quality of its life over the past two hundred years, but our advancements seem to have come at a cost: the loss of biodiversity in the oceans. Since the start of the Industrial Revolution, there has been an enormous increase in carbon dioxide (CO2) levels in the atmosphere (Johnson 2014). The ocean absorbs more than a third of CO2 from the atmosphere (Anthony 2011). When CO2 and water react with each other they release hydrogen ions which increases ocean acidity. Johnson (2011) states that...
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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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...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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...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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...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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...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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...dissolution of coral reefs is a growing consequence to human activities, sedimentation, and ocean acidification. While efforts and monetary investments towards regulation of anthropogenic factors and ocean acidification can project small feats of improvement, it will require time to observe whether or not reduction of these factors correlate with restoration. Coral transplantation appears most effective because it directly combats dissolution of coral reefs and aims to return coral ecosystems. Furthermore, human activity including over fishing, oil disposal, sewage, and chemical pollution influence the warming of ocean waters attribute to only a portion of the disruption of diverse coral reef ecosystems. Sedimentation presents itself as a problem because it buries the coral reefs underneath rocky layers and ultimately hinders their growth. Additionally, ocean acidification is a large constituent due to its “impact on rates of biogenic calcium carbonate production by the dominant reef calcifiers: corals and coralline algae” which affect the calcium carbonate structures that hold together the coral reefs (Pandolfi et...
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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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...In the article, “Ocean Acidification,” the author Hannah Waters illustrates the idea that ocean acidification can be climate change's “evil twin.” Humans don’t see or feel carbon dioxide in the atmosphere because we are not affected by it, the marine life is. When burning coal, oil and gas are released into the air it no longer stays there, but instead the ocean absorbs it. When this happens it causes the water to become more acidic and the ocean’s pH level drops. I would have to agree with the writer of this article in so many ways. The writer says that scientists thought that having less carbon dioxide in the air, made the planet warmer. Over the past years, they have realized that this is not true because it is changing the ocean's chemistry....
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...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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...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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...One of the most captivating lectures we have covered thus far, in my opinion, is that of acids and bases. I have been taught this concept plenty of times before, but it had never made me contemplate how much it affects us beyond the pH levels of everyday household items. This is why I decided to read the article, “Mussel Power: How Ocean Acidification Is Changing Shells.” In class, I got a glimpse of just how important pH levels are when trying to determine the status of our environment, in this case our oceans. When I think about global warming and carbon emissions I immediately picture our ozone layer, or air quality never really thinking about how it directly affects our oceans and its inhabitants. The article, by Susan Fitzer, explores...
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...of the following places? [A]Allahabad and Haldia [B]Allahabad and Kanpur [C]Kanpur and Patna [D]Varanasi and Haldia 7. As per the latest report, which among the following countries has the world’s highest deforestation rate? [A]Brazil [B]Indonesia [C]Kenya [D]South Africa 8. Recently, India and which one of the following countries has signed an agreement on cooperation in the field of environment? [A]Brazil [B] China [C] Russia [D]Japan 9. The controversial “Mankading Law” is associated with which one of the following sports? [A]Tennis [B]Cricket [C]Football [D]Hockey 10. Recently, NASA has launched Ship-Aircraft Bio-Optical Research (SABOR) experiment to probe ____? [A]Ocean Ecology and Carbon Cycle [B]Aquatic animal’s life style [C]Ocean Minerals [D]Effect of ocean acidification 11. Write Full Name of These Companies- 1. KFC 2. IKEA 3.MRF 4.ESPN 5. ICICI 6. AOL 7.HTC 8.UPS 9.LG 10. P&G 12. Who are the founder of these companies- a. Apple- b. Colgate- d. Adidas- e.Google- f. Ford- 13. Write...
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