Ocean Acidification
By: Drishti Das
For about 200 years since the Industrial Revolution, the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has increased due to the burning of fossil fuels. As we progressed into society with innovations and inventions, the idea of ocean acidification was not emphasized. Scientists viewed the absorption of carbon dioxide in the ocean as a good thing since it takes away some of the pressure on the atmosphere. However, it was not until 2003 that scientists noticed a significant change in the ocean and decided to coin the term ‘ocean acidification’. If we continue to emit more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, then the ocean will start absorbing at a higher rate. This creates many difficulties for the future.
Ocean acidification is harmful not just in one way but in many ways. One way it affects the environment is by harming marine life. As the ocean absorbs more carbon dioxide, its pH goes up, causing the ocean to become more acidic. In fact, the ocean absorbs up to 30% of all carbon dioxide resulting in a higher pH. When carbon dioxide is absorbed by seawater, a chemical reaction occurs causing an abundance of hydrogen ions and less carbonate ions. Carbonate ions are essential for sea shells and coral skeletons. Therefore, decrease in carbonate ions harms the structure of marine life. The higher pH also makes it harder for some animals to adapt to an acidic ocean at a fast rate. This can lead to extinction of some oceanic animals.
How can we help? Geologists have been studying the several layers of rock to compare the changes between now and back then. Scientists are also trying to predict what would happen if we continue to emit carbon dioxide at this rate; they predict by 2100, the pH could drop to under 7.8 or more. That is more than 150 percent compared to today! Before 2050, about 86 percent of the oceans water will become warmer and more acidic. This can cause drastic changes in the environment if we do not take a stand now. One easy way to prevent such horrible changes is by cutting down carbon emissions. If we decrease the amount of fossil fuels we burn then carbon dioxide will stabilize again.
Let’s take a stand together. Let’s build a new planet where all life can thrive. Let’s save the world together. As we continue to burn fossil fuels we are only making it harder on ourselves. The ocean can only take so much carbon dioxide before it starts failing and eventually we are harmed. There are so many ways we can help and so many ways we can spread awareness. So what are you going to do? How are you going to help save the planet? What can you do today?
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18 comments:
I was already aware of how elevated carbon dioxide emissions contribute to higher global and ocean temperatures but it is news to me that the increased carbon emissions contribute to an elevated level of ocean acidity. Clearly the increased emission of carbon dioxide has many negative repercussions that could forever change our world for the worse. Your blog shows how important it is to reverse our actions and their effect while we still can !
Ocean Acidification is a serious problem that should be addressed to the world. Without any change and solutions to this problem, many ocean ecosystems will not be the same. Many animals and plants in the ocean could become extinct if the oceans become more acidic and warm. I agree with what you are saying, but we need to find a solution before we start doing too much research on what could happen in the future. Finding a cure to Ocean Acidification will help the present ocean life before many more difficulties start occurring in the future years to come.
Cara Kelly
We tend to ignore the concept of ocean acidification and instead focus on more visible problems such as plastic in our oceans. I believe the best way to turn back the clock is to simply raise awareness as well as possibly donate or contribute to organizations that protect our oceans. Oceans are very deserving of our protection and care.
When people think about the burning of fossil fuels, the effect it has on the ocean is usually not the first thing that comes to mind. The ocean is one of the most important factors of life and we don’t realize how our actions have harmed it. The amount of carbon we put in the air isn’t very healthy for any living thing, but the ocean is where a lot of it goes, overloading it and causing the acidic state it’s in. This affects billions of living organisms, all because we want to burn our limited resources.
Ocean acidification is not something that people are often concerned about since there is hardly any visible problem. We can see pollution and the melting of ice which causes society to consider those types of issues. Nonetheless, ocean acidification is a problem especially due to our current rate of fossil fuel consumption. It is nearly impossible for a single individual to change what has been done. Even large organizations will have trouble completely stopping the increase of acidity in the oceans because we are so dependent on fossil fuels. Therefore, I think the only way to stop the increase of acidity in the oceans is to raise awareness of the impacts of fossil fuels.
Ocean acidification is a huge problem, but I'll admit that I didn't know much about it until now. I think it's hard for many people to fully grasp the issue of climate change and fossil fuel's impact on the world because for the most part, it doesn't directly affect us. Increasing funding into research and strict governmental regulation is the only way to keep the problem from exponentially increasing. On an individual level, it is important to raise awareness and hold our government and corporations accountable.
Before reading this blog, I didn’t know how much of a problem ocean acidification could be. In fact, I rarely heard the term. Even though humans have been trying to find efficient alternative sources for fossil fuels, statistics show that we have been emitting more carbon dioxide than ever. We must find another source to run our cars and warm up our homes. It’s time to become more dependent on solar energy or wind energy so that we can turn our future around. The ocean’s life depends on it. I really enjoyed reading this post.
Ocean Acidification seems to be causing a bigger problem than I would have ever thought. Before reading this blog I had never really heard of the term before. I understood that the ocean is a major carbon sink and absorbs a big portion of the atmosphere's carbon dioxide; however, I did not know that it is harmful to marine life. When you talked about the pH levels, I began to understand how deeply it can affect our oceans. It will be difficult to try and limit the amount of carbon emissions we produce, but we should start by spreading awareness of this issue.
Wow, I had no idea ocean acidification was related to carbon emissions! This was so interesting. I feel like if such facts were more widely heralded and talked about as much as other issues such as pollution of the oceans from garbage, people would be more likely to act on it. It seems to me that the biggest issue concerning such acidification is that people aren’t aware of its cause being carbon emissions. If we shared it more, especially with large corporations that produce massive amounts of carbon, we could at least help the problem to an extent. Great post by the way :)
It is really saddening to hear that ocean acidification can affect marine animals and cause them to get extinct soon. We need to find effective ways to reduce the carbon dioxide produced. This can be difficult since most of the modern day technology we use produce carbon dioxide but if we don’t find a way to reduce the amount of carbon dioxide released soon, we will be severely affected. People need to be more aware of ocean acidification and be able to help this cause in order to not let it get too far when we won’t be able to do anything about it.
The destruction of our oceans is truly heartbreaking and is yet another example of how carbon in the atmosphere contributes to global destruction. Your blog post reminds me of another consequence in our oceans which I have been hearing a lot about lately: the destruction of the coral reefs. I don’t think I realized that with a higher level of carbon, the oceans become more acidic, compounding the damage to the reefs. Your post has made me consider the interconnectivity of the climate issue and the way in which we treat our marine ecosystems as opposed to our terrestrial ones.
Before I read this blog post, I didn't know much about ocean acidification. Like most people, I knew about some of the effects of carbon dioxide emissions in global warming, but I failed to connect how this can affect the ocean. This really shows how interconnected ecosystems are to human actions. Our human race needs to start considering the consequences of our actions and how that can negatively affect the environment, rather than just exploiting it.
Before I read this blog I didn't have the slightest clue about what ocean acidification was and how we can prevent it, and thanks to your blog I am more knowledgeable about this topic. I find it interesting that until recently scientists have identified the ocean absorbing carbon dioxide as a bad thing rather than during the Industrial revolution when they believed it help take away the pressure in the atmosphere. I agree that we should decrease the amount of fossil fuels we burn to stabilize carbon dioxide, and that by doing so we can help the environment which can lead to the non extinction of oceanic animals.
It seems like a lot of us have in common that we hadn't or barely had heard of ocean acidification prior to reading this blog post, and I think that is exactly the reason why I commend you on choosing this topic. It's easy to talk about topics everyone knows about and can comment on without having to look further into it, but it takes actual effort to introduce and open for discussion a topic that is not widely known because you have to do the extra step of explaining it. This post just furthers the evidence stacking against the consistent burning of fossil fuels for energy, yet it's truly sad that so many people deny or discredit the evidence.
I actually knew what ocean acidification was before I read this article. But I didn’t realize that it is as harmful as it is. The oceans are very important to human life and we have to respect them by reducing carbon emissions and carbon waste that goes into oceans. This doesn’t mean we should release carbon into the atmosphere, but to find a better way to use/dispose of the excess carbon gases. This shows how interconnected our world really is. People need to be more aware of this issue and make changes to stop it.
This blog just made me hate fossil fuels even more, which I didn’t think was possible. Before reading your blog I was not farmiliar with the term “ocean acidification” and had previously thought that the only way oceans are affected by global warming was through rising sea levels. Now, after reading your blog, I feel like I now have a new form of inspiration and encouragement to help stabilize our planet. While I know I probably couldn’t come up with an alternative to fossils fuels all alone, it wouldn’t hurt to just research ways you as an individual could research ways to reduce your carbon footprint.
I never even thought much about fossil fuels and ocean acidification until now. It’s crazy how much harm it is causes!! Us humans really need to start realizing that it’s not just pollution ruining our earth.
This article makes great points, The effects of fossil fuels and ocean acidification are destroying our earth. We need to take these solutions seriously and attempt to help slow down or stop these problems harming our earth. Our world is very interconnected and we need to find a new way to dispose of carbon gases.
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