http://www.nrdc.org/oceans/acidification/files/state-vulnerability-MA.pdf
You can wave hello to a decrease in the pH of the oceans. As you likely already know, a solution's pH is essentially a measure of how acidic or basic and therefore harmful it is, based on its chemical composition.
What you may not know is that carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is absorbed by the oceans, resulting in the change known as ocean acidification. The higher acidity of the water makes it difficult for developing organisms with calcium carbonate shells to develop. Both Massachusetts and California, as coastal states relying heavily on fish and shellfish, are heavily at risk for negative consequences.
If you're interested in ocean acidification (especially because it's a concern that is spread worldwide, with the oceans being... well, you know, everywhere) here is another link that elaborates further!
http://www.pmel.noaa.gov/co2/story/What+is+Ocean+Acidification%3F
This is definitely a worrying topic. After a bit of research, I found another side effect of acidic ocean, which is acid rain. Acid rain is, as its name states, acidic rain. In heavily poluted areas near the coast (ie Eastern China), acidic rain falls and can harm or kill wildlife, and even people. Because of this, we should definitely start trying to reduce global use of dirty fuels.
ReplyDeleteYes! I have heard about ocean acidification before, and it's really bad- most definitely global, just you said, and in the long run it affects almost all of marine life. The article says that it makes it hard for coral, shellfish and pteropods to develop their exoskeletons. The thing is that so many animals eat (or live in, in the case of coral) all of the aforementioned animals, so if the bottom of the food chain goes out, everything above it does too. We really need to do something to actively improve this situation. Thank you for posting!
ReplyDeleteAlright so if I understand this correctly, carbon dioxide trapped in our atmosphere is increasing the acidity of our oceans... basically, another thing Global Warming is destroying for our future generations. According to your article, "Since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, the pH of surface ocean waters has fallen by 0.1 pH units," which leads me to propose the same solutions for this problem as I would for Global Warming; renewable energy sources, reduced fossil fuel emissions, and cleaner transportation.
ReplyDelete