In my next couple of posts on my site i will be posting a research paper i recently created looking to understand one of the most pressing issue threatening our oceans and on a larger scale the earth, this first excerpt is my introduction where i try to explain what Ocean acidification is, and then go into some detail about how it effects ocean life and how if trends continue it will effect marine life:
“As we move into the 21st century technology has seen a increase in use world wide, humans are shaping the world around us in a way no other species in the history of the earth has been able to do taking the world around us and shaping it whether consciously or as a by product of our ever developing need for infrastructure and increased need for leisurely living. In no way has this been more evident than what has seemed to be the focal point of the scientific community since the turn of the 20th century, Global Warming. As more research is consistently done on the subject the scientific community continue to discover new issues that that threaten the continued survival of the human species on earth. In this essay I will examine possibly the greatest threat currently facing the human species Ocean Acidification. To understand the true danger of ocean acidification we must first understand what is ocean acidification, it is described by the National Ocean and Atmosphere Administration as the increase in Co2 being taken in by the largest carbon sink in the world the ocean. This increase in uptake in Co2 by the ocean has a chemical consequence, when Co2 reacts with seawater (H20) it creates hydrogen ions that in turn react with carbonate ions to create 2 bi carbonate. The issue with this is that most ocean life that creates shells needs carbonate ions to be the building blocks of their shells; with less of it available it forces shell bearing creatures to expend more energy trying to build shells meaning its more difficult for them to grow large enough to properly defend themselves. As well when more energy is expended building a shell its more difficult for these creates to gather the necessary nutrients to survive. On top of this having all those extra hydrogen ions in the water acidifies the water dropping it by up to a 0.1 on the Ph scale, which is significant because the Ph scale is logarithmic, meaning a drop of 0.1 would signify a 25% increase in acidity.
A map showing where ocean acidity is concentrated on earth
The reason an increase in the acidity of the oceans is an issue is because marine ecosystems are very fragile, when one thing falls apart the chain to which it is connected crumbles very easily. One example of this is Pteropods, a small marine creature that resemble land snails, they are integral part of the marine ecosystem feeding many marine creatures from things as small as krill all the way up to whales. They form their shells from the carbonate ions that are increasingly difficult to find but also on top of that their shells are so small that a slight rise in acidity would absolutely devastate this creature. Acidic water has the ability to destroy shells by breaking down their carbonate structures, if trends continue the way they have been going lately by the year 2100 the ocean will be acidic enough to not only make creating shells nearly impossible but would in fact actively be breaking shells down faster than they could be created according to national geographic (see bibliography). This would likely spell the end of many marine ecosystems and potentially the sea as a viable source for food.
Another major organism that is seriously put at risk by ocean acidification is coral; coral are marine invertebrates that form their rough outer shells from the carbonate ions that are now being lost due to ocean acidification. Individual corals are called polyps but corals tend to conjugate in areas because they reproduce asexually, these conglomerates of individual polyps are called coral reefs. Corals reefs are considered to be the richest and most ecologically diverse places on planet earth taking up only approximately 1 percept of the sea floor corals are said to be home to more than 25% of all the marine life in the oceans. But ocean acidification is very dangerous for these biologically rich haven for fish, corals are very sensitive to ocean temperatures and acidity, which makes ocean acidification a very large challenge for them to overcome. Already one quarter of coral reefs are described as damaged beyond repair with another two thirds considered under serious threat according to WWF. We have already seen catastrophic losses to coral reefs within the past couple of decades in 1998 16% of all coral reefs were killed due to in part ocean acidification. The risk is particularly grave of the coast of south East Asia or Oceania, where 80% of all the reefs in that area are considered to be severely endangered. Ocean acidification not only breaks down the reefs shells though, reefs are also severely threatened by coral bleaching which is a by-product of ocean acidification, with ocean acidification salinity is modestly altered due to salt’s tendency to be basic and ocean acidification making the ocean more acidic this changes the levels of ocean salinity in certain places, when ocean salinity levels change the corals respond by expelling symbiodium(a type of algae), without which corals give off the white look that is associated with coral bleaching. The issue with this is that without these algae the corals begin to starve as the algae used to provide the coral with 90% of its energy, meaning if the ocean doesn’t regulate itself quickly the coral will often starve to death. The destruction of these reefs would mean also mean the death of countless numbers of fish and the complete collapse of the most ecologically diverse areas on the planet. Not to mention that a collapse of this size would send shock waves throughout the world, reefs feed enormous amounts of people and without this source of food human life would be very truly threatened. Therefore protection of these reefs is critical to the continued prosperity of not only ocean biodiversity but also human lives.
As well studies are now starting to come out linking a change in fish behaviour directly correlated to the changing levels of Ph in the oceans. Studies have found that a drop in the level in Ph effects chemical communication between certain species of fish, as well as other marine invertebrates. Plymouth University published a study that correlates these changes in Ph and Co2 in the environment with fish reproductive habits, higher levels of Co2 correlated with dominate males being able to pair off with females more easily but found that the rate of offspring being born to be significantly lower. If as more research is done the early indications of this study are true then that could spell larger issue for the ocean with even more fish populations being at risk for decline. Ergo creating one more challenge for the ocean to overcome and ultimately humans to overcome.”
Thank you for reading if you are still interested the rest of this research paper is available in coming posts.