What´s Ocean Acidification - 1292 Words

Introduction The oceans of the earth are a massive part of the natural cycles that make this planet habitable. They regulate global temperatures, absorb carbon dioxide, provide a home for millions of plants and animals that make up various levels of the food chain, and so much more. They are a resource given for us to use and benefit from, however, it is also a resource that needs to be protected. It is the fountain of life for the planet and drastic changes to the makeup of the oceans could be detrimental to life as we know it. Ocean acidification is a problem which has come to light in the last decade, but is becoming increasingly concerning to many scientists (1). In this essay I will attempt to direct your attention to some of the†¦show more content†¦In this case the CO2 is absorbed from the atmosphere into the warm surface waters and gets mixed in with the deep ocean currents and is stored. This process can be further aggravated by this excess of dead organic material providing ide al environments for anaerobic bacteria deep in the ocean which break down the material and produce CO2 as a byproduct. (3) This is a vicious cycle that becomes very hard to break The second possible cause relates to waste water from agricultural industry which is rich in nutrients but ends up being dumped into lakes and rivers. This nutrient rich water runs down to the ocean where it ends up and stimulates growth of various types of algae. These algae produce CO2 as a product and therefore raise levels of CO2 in that area of the ocean. This causes other organic material to die off and continues with the vicious cycle described above. (6) What can be done about it? Scientists are working hard to simulate conditions projected for the end of the century and beyond to determine how the ocean will be able to adapt. Natural occurrences of hypoxic zones can be used to study this and researchers have shown that although fish do live in these areas, they are not able to reproduce here but must go to areas of higher oxygen content to reproduce. (3) Concerning evidence also shows that animals with shells will not be able to survive which has serious implications for the food chain. (3) New regulations on CO2 emissions areShow MoreRelatedOcean Acidification And Its Effects On Society944 Words   |  4 PagesOcean Acidification   Ã‚  Ã‚   As the sun comes out to represent a new day and the time passes, the world continues to turn nonstop. Everything is moving in a forward direction with no sense of looking back. Each and every day, we go on with our lives and daily routines not realizing what is happening to our planet Earth. The more we progress and expand in the world, then the more things we tend to lose sight of and overshadow that require our attention just as much. 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