In the past 100 years, the ocean’s pH has dropped from 8.2 to 8.1 which may not seem significant but proposes a major issue to aquatic ecosystems.
Coral
With the burning of fossil fuels, there is more carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Excess CO2 reacts with water molecules to produce hydronium ions, in turn, increasing the overall acidity (and lowering the pH). Coral polyps are delicate and can dissolve in response to acidity. Consequently, fish and small sea creatures that depend on coral will suffer, and the overall food chain will topple.
Calcification
Another effect of acidification is calcification. Shelled sea creatures use a process called calcification to build their shells with calcium. However, small changes in acidity can affect this. Added CO2 from greenhouse gases reacts with water and carbonate to create bicarbonate ions. Animals depend on carbonate ions to build their shells. If the carbonate ions are all being consumed to form bicarbonate, there isn’t enough left for animals to build their shells with.
Additionally, the higher acidity of the ocean eats away at the thin shells, harming the animals. Since shelled sea creatures like mollusks, sea urchins, coral, etc are such a vital part of the food chain, their suffering affects the rest of the aquatic food chain.
These are shells that were affected by the increased acidity.
What can we do?
The main cause of ocean acidification is the extra presence of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Since the industrial revolution, the atmosphere has been polluted at an alarming rate. To help the oceans, we ultimately need to tackle the greenhouse effect by monitoring emissions from:
Factories
Transportation (cars, planes, other automobiles)
Power plants
This is a convoluted issue, but there are a few proposed solutions.
Electric vehicles are eco-friendly alternatives to fossil fuel-burning vehicles.
Filtering emissions from factories via compounds like aluminum formate can trap carbon dioxide from getting released. This new concept would require a process to mass produce the compounds, but if successful, they could significantly impact greenhouse gas emissions.
Switching to other sources of energy instead of dependence on fossil fuels. These may include solar panels, wind turbines, and renewable energy
The Paris Agreement is an international treaty attempting to fund the global effort against climate change.
None of these solutions are easy nor cheap, but with government and popular support, we could change our way of life to protect Earth before we ruin ourselves for good.
Reducing greenhouse gas emissions will help save our oceans and ultimately our planet from demise.
Sources
https://ioos.noaa.gov/project/ocean-acidification/ https://www.c2es.org/content/what-we-can do/#:~:text=Greenhouse%20gas%20emissio ns%20can%20be,renewable%20hydrogen%2C%20and%20geothermal%20energy.
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