OCEAN ACIDIFICATION
Ocean acidification is one of the biggest problems associated with greenhouse gases. The ocean acts like as a sponge for carbon dioxide and when carbon dioxide is dissolved in seawater, the acidity goes up. Acidic seawater can harm marine life, especially sea creatures with shells. The acid water prevents the creatures from properly developing their skeletons and shells. Some creatures that heavily rely on their shells are: oysters, shrimps, lobsters, crabs, and shellfish. Also, the acidity could hurt the coral reefs. Poisoning the coral reefs could create a decline in the fish population that depends on these reefs. Dying reefs, decreasing fish and oyster population will throw the entire ocean food chain off balance and not only would it affect the sea creatures, it would affect us, since our lives are dependent on the sea.
So many of us depend on the ocean; either for food or money. The ocean provides us an abundant supply of fish to eat and sell. People rely on seafood for protein, while fishermen rely on it for cash. For example, in the Pacific Northwest, high acidity levels hinder oyster hatcheries, which are worth about $270 million and 3,200 jobs. You can see that people severely depend on the ocean and its contents. Let’s not forget that scientists also use the ocean as a studying ground, where they have discovered many new species. However, the cause of ocean acidification is the burning of fossil fuels which increases atmospheric carbon dioxide. Another cause of ocean acidification is the removal of vegetation. This reduces the absorption of carbon dioxide from plants for photosynthesis which leads to an increase of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Atmospheric carbon dioxide eventually ends up in the ocean, which is one of the largest reservoirs of carbon dioxide.
I chose this article because ocean acidification is a big problem and it’s getting bigger. We need to be aware of our impact on the ocean and know what burning fossil fuels could do to the environment. Humans are always the one destroying the ocean; either by over-fishing or polluting and dumping trash into it and now acidifying the ocean by burning greenhouse and gas and releasing carbon dioxide. If we are the ones polluting the ocean, we should be the one repairing it. Fossil fuels are burned to produce energy and to make vehicles run. What we can do is drive less and walk more, or buy a hybrid car.
Source:http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/us-effort-on-ocean-acidification-needs-focus-on-human-impacts/
Article by Brian Bienkowski on January 11,2013
So many of us depend on the ocean; either for food or money. The ocean provides us an abundant supply of fish to eat and sell. People rely on seafood for protein, while fishermen rely on it for cash. For example, in the Pacific Northwest, high acidity levels hinder oyster hatcheries, which are worth about $270 million and 3,200 jobs. You can see that people severely depend on the ocean and its contents. Let’s not forget that scientists also use the ocean as a studying ground, where they have discovered many new species. However, the cause of ocean acidification is the burning of fossil fuels which increases atmospheric carbon dioxide. Another cause of ocean acidification is the removal of vegetation. This reduces the absorption of carbon dioxide from plants for photosynthesis which leads to an increase of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Atmospheric carbon dioxide eventually ends up in the ocean, which is one of the largest reservoirs of carbon dioxide.
I chose this article because ocean acidification is a big problem and it’s getting bigger. We need to be aware of our impact on the ocean and know what burning fossil fuels could do to the environment. Humans are always the one destroying the ocean; either by over-fishing or polluting and dumping trash into it and now acidifying the ocean by burning greenhouse and gas and releasing carbon dioxide. If we are the ones polluting the ocean, we should be the one repairing it. Fossil fuels are burned to produce energy and to make vehicles run. What we can do is drive less and walk more, or buy a hybrid car.
Source:http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/us-effort-on-ocean-acidification-needs-focus-on-human-impacts/
Article by Brian Bienkowski on January 11,2013