Essay On Ocean Acidification

Marine Mission

Mrs. Blakely

Fuzzy Sheetz

March 16, 2016

Ocean Acidification According to the article “On the potential for ocean acidification to be a general cause of ancient reef crises,” “In conjunction with climate change, ocean acidification (OA) is perhaps the most severe threat to marine ecosystems acting at global scales…” (Kiessling & Simpson, 2011). Ocean acidification has increased exponentially, since the Industrial Revolution, and has been a key contributor to an approximate 0.74 degrees celsius rise in global temperature over the past 100 years. (Hale et al., 2011). In the atmosphere, carbon dioxide levels influence the ocean’s acidity. Partial pressure of carbon dioxide has increased the amount of dissolved carbon dioxide in the ocean, which is causing the shift in the ocean’s pH, or acidity. Quoted from the article “Interactive effects of metal pollution and ocean

While it affects all environments, it has an extreme effect on coastal environments and estuarine environments since these environments rely heavily on chemical concentrations and pH balances. The pH balances have decreased majorly over the recent years since the industrial revolution because of increased partial pressure of carbon dioxide released into our environment and into the oceans. Because of this, ocean pH balance has now reached a record low for the past two million years. The high amount of carbon dioxide is increasing the levels of calcium carbonate, which is altering the performance of calcifiers and other marine organisms like the algal community. Lastly, the decreased pH balance in the seawater is causing high metal pollution, which also affects marine organisms(Ivanina & Sokolova, 2015). If ocean acidification is continually overlooked, then temperatures will continue to rise, and the lives of marine organisms and humans will continue to be