Every day more people become aware of the incoming effects of global warming. It has far reaching side effects, melting of the polar ice shelves, extinction of sensitive species; as well as, the destruction of whole ecosystems.Their are many side effects which are detrimental to many habitats. One of those is the oceans. Besides the billions of gallons of fresh water being added from the melting ice shelves which in turn raise sea level and ultimately cool the oceans. We also have to contend with the change in ocean currents which ultimately drive our weather. And as if that is not enough global warnings chief cause is carbon, which finds its way into our beloved oceans as well.
Already scientists are finding out that their predictions were wrong. Most of the scientific world did not expect many of these acidic effects for another 50 years. Now off the West coast a new study shows that the ocean water has become tremendously more acidic.
This makes life especially hard for corals and many of the lowest parts of the oceanic food chain. While their is not much we can do to curb this process ignoring it has the potential to cause mass extinctions through out our worlds oceans.
Feely, a NOAA oceanographer, noted that while the ability of oceans to absorb carbon dioxide helps mitigate warming, “the change in the ocean chemistry affects marine life, particularly organisms with calcium carbonate shells, such as corals, mussels, mollusks, and small creatures in the early stages of the food chain.” NOAA echoed the experts’ findings. “Acidification of the Earth’s ocean water could have far-reaching impacts on the health of our near-shore environment, and on the sustainability of ecosystems that support human populations,” said NOAA assistant administrator Richard Spinrad. “This research is vital to understanding the processes within the ocean, as well as the consequences of a carbon-rich atmosphere,” he added.
The study was compiled from data collected by 13 survey lines dropped last summer and stretching from the waters of central Canada to northern Mexico. They measured pH levels in seawater to detect acidification, and found lower levels were much closer to the surface than researchers had predicted. Previous studies found acidification at deeper depths farther from shore. The researchers said the acidified water appears to well up in spring and summer, when winds bring CO2-rich water up from depths of about 400-600 feet onto the continental shelf.
What will you do to make sure our oceanic ecosystems survive?
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May 26th, 2008 at 10:03 am
Shoot, I wish I could remember where I read that a big reason this is happening (the acidity) is the sheer number of tourists wading into the water slathered in sunscreen.
Which washes off into the water and bleaches the coral.
May 26th, 2008 at 11:30 am
Andrea_R: Wow, that’s not cool at all. The companies really need to figure out a way to do a more natural sun screen that won’t harm these very essential parts of our oceans.