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Uploaded by JenniferNguyen1235 on 2015-04-02.

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What is Biodiversity & Its Importance? Environmental Science for Kids | Educational Videos by Mocomi

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How does your assigned environmental topic relate to your issue

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How does your assigned environmental topic relate to your issue

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Ocean acidification is related to biodiversity because if the oceans continue to become more acidic as time goes by, many shell-making species will be affected negatively. It will cause them to be at risk. If they become at risk, the whole food web will be may also be at risk. People depend on the oceans to provide food for them. If one species start being at risk, it causes the other species to start becoming at risk because they will not have much to eat. If a species is at risk, it will affect biodiversity because one by one the species can be dying off which causes there to be less of a variety in species in the oceans' environments. Therefore ocean acidification affects the food web, food chain, and biodiversity.

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How Does Ocean Acidification Affect Biodiversity?

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How Does Ocean Acidification Affect Biodiversity?

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- because we are causing it

- there will be a huge economic impact

- effects the food web

- fishing industries

- tourism

- species composition

- altering biodiversity

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- warmer oceans

-changes in biodiversity

-rising sea levels

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- reduce greenhouse gas emissions

- transportation alternatives, efficient vehicles

- use CFLs

- don't waste so much food

- Plant more Trees

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Global Climate Change

As more carbon dioxide is being added to the atmosphere, oceans are absorbing more and more of these molecules, and therefore causing it to become more acidic. If the carbon dioxide levels continue to rise, the acidity level will rise and thus affecting different marine organisms. Like a chain reaction, other organisms in the food chain will start getting affected.

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Climate Interpreter: Effect to the Marine Food Chain

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Climate Interpreter: Effect to the Marine Food Chain

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Ocean acidification is affecting many organisms that form the marine food chain. This is seen in a negative way due to the change of pH level of the ocean water. Since carbon dioxide is bonded with water molecules to form hydrogen bonds and carbonic acid, carbonic acid is produced much more. Many organisms need carbonate ions to form calcium carbonate that is needed for their shells. Due to this problem, carbonate ions are reducing. Many organisms that form the the marine food chain are affected by this. If they start to disappear this could lead to affecting everyone in the environment.

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The Effects of Ocean Acidification on the Marine Food Chain | Climate Interpreter

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Many organisms that form the basis for the marine food chain are going to be affected by ocean acidification. It turns out that changing the pH of the ocean is not the only impact from this phenomenon. There is another, equally impactful side effect.

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This picture shows a clam, a key food source to other organisms, in different levels of acidic seawater. It is clearly shown that the clam is dramatically shrinking.

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As the amount of dissolved carbon dioxide increases, the pH of the ocean decreases. Therefore making it more acidic.

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The world's oceans have become 26% more acidic since the start of the Industrial Revolution due to the emissions from human activities such as fossil fuel burning. Scientists say that the rate of change is faster than at any time in the last 300 million years, and predict that by 2100 there will have been a 170% increase in ocean acidity. Oceans currently act as a CO2 "sinkhole" absorbing approximately a quarter of emissions. Ocean Acidification can affect tourism, food security and shoreline protection.

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The world's oceans have become 26% more acidic since the start of the Industrial Revolution and continue to acidify at an "unprecedented rate," threatening marine ecosystems, aquaculture and the societies that rely on them, scientists say.

In a report released Thursday, researchers say that carbon dioxide emissions from human activities such as fossil fuel burning are the primary cause of ocean acidification.

They say the rate of change may be faster than at any time in the last 300 million years, predicting that by 2100 there will have been a 170% increase in ocean acidity, compared to pre-industrial times.

The report is based on the findings from a September 2012 Symposium on the Ocean, at which 540 experts from 37 countries discussed research on ocean acidification, and has been updated with more recent research.

Unless carbon dioxide emissions are reduced, marine ecosystems will be damaged and the impact of climate change will be worsened, the scientists warn. "The only known realistic mitigation option on a global scale is to limit future atmospheric CO2 levels."

The report says oceans currently act as a CO2 "sinkhole" absorbing approximately a quarter of emissions.

"As ocean acidity increases, its capacity to absorb CO2 from the atmosphere decreases. This decreases the ocean's role in moderating climate change," they write.

The increased acidity will also change the ocean environment, with evidence suggesting that some organisms will be less able to survive, while others, such as seagrass, may thrive.

Acidification is faster in Arctic waters because cold water is richer in CO2, while melting sea ice worsens the problem, they say.

"Within decades, large parts of the polar oceans will become corrosive to the unprotected shells of calcareous marine organisms," the report says, while in the tropics the growth of coral reefs may be hampered.

"People who rely on the ocean's ecosystem services are especially vulnerable and may need to adapt or cope with ocean acidification impacts within decades," it says. "Tropical coral reef loss will affect tourism, food security and shoreline protection for many of the world's poorest people."

"Very aggressive reductions in CO2 emissions are required to maintain a majority of tropical coral reefs in waters favorable for growth," the report says.

One of the report's authors is Daniela Schmidt, from the University of Bristol, in the UK.

Schmidt said the research highlighted the impact acidification would have on biodiversity and aquaculture and the societies that rely on them for their food and economic well-being.

"We're talking about countries that strongly depend on this, in warmer countries where there are complex problems with climate change as it is," Schmidt said.

"What I'm hoping is that people realize that CO2 is not just a question of global warming. That we are acidifying the ocean at a rate that has been unprecedented -- for millions and millions of years," she said.

"The more CO2 emissions, the more acidification," Schmidt said. "The ocean is in direct interchange with the atmosphere."

If acidification continued to increase at its current rate, "you will definitely see damage," she said. "The first signs we can already see today, in oyster farms off the West Coast of the United States."

Schmidt said while 90% of the world's ocean was in equilibrium with the atmosphere, some oyster hatcheries in this area were located in the 10% that wasn't.

Oysters in the larval stage were much more vulnerable to damage, she said. "When (more acidic) water comes up and hits the hatchery, they close the whole thing."

While tanks could be closed off to more acidic seawater, Schmidt said that by 2100 the issue would be there every day. "So we can't just switch off that tap anymore."

She said the report would be presented in Warsaw, Poland, on November 18, during the U.N. Conference of the Parties climate change meeting.

Schmidt said while she hoped the research would lead to stricter emissions limits, "the realist in me thinks that we've been discussing this for decades. This isn't a problem that is just going to go away. It's simple. The consequences are frightening."

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co2 causing 'unprecedented' ocean acidification - cnn

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CO2 causing 'unprecedented' ocean acidification - CNN

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The world's oceans have become 26% more acidic since the start of the Industrial Revolution and continue to acidify at an "unprecedented rate," threatening marine ecosystems, aquaculture and the societies that rely on them, scientists say. In a report released Thursday, researchers say that carbon dioxide emissions from human activities such as fossil fuel burning are the primary cause of ocean acidification.

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Earth's oceans have been able to maintain a stable acidity level til now. Fossil fuel-powered machines have led to emissions of billions of tons of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. The oceans absorbing the CO2 helped slow down the climate change, but is instead affecting the oceans' acidity levels. The oceans are currently absorbing about a third of human-created CO2 emissions. Shell-forming animals can be gravely affected if this continues to get worse.

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Learn about the Pristine Seas expeditions from National Geographic.

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Ocean Acidification Increases Over the Years

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Ocean Acidification Increases Over the Years

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As CO2 Rises in Atmosphere Ocean Acidification Increases

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As CO2 Rises in Atmosphere Ocean Acidification Increases

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Ocean Acidification by the Alliance for Climate Education