In addition to the famous impacts of atmospheric carbon on global warming, there is an equally worrisome effect of carbon dioxide on the oceans: ocean acidification (or OA for short). Here at I2SEA we have a series of resources about OA, including Our Acidifying Ocean, which is an introductory activity and virtual lab (note: now mobile compatible!).
A student suggested that we start a conversation topic about OA, and here it is! Have you heard about Ocean Acidification? If so, are you worried about it? How do you think we can best raise awareness about it among your fellow students and the general public? Have you seen particularly good links or films about OA that you would like to share? What are you doing to address the problem?
Ocean Acidification >
Ocean Acidification is a Domino Effect
Ocean acidification has become a commonly discussed topic as the issue of climate change has made its way into our daily lives. One of the largest issues of ocean acidification is the distruption of the ocean food chain. As the acidity of our ocean rises, the animals living there are dying. This starts with the plants that can't live in the new environment, and progresses down the food chain causing a domino effect. As key stone species die due to the affects on shells and skeletons, the entire food chain of the habitat is destroyed. This issue moves onto land as we see human food sources being effected by the rising issue of ocean acidification. According to Brian Bienkowski of dailyclimate.org, ocean acidification is now impacting the shellfish industry, thus causing a shortage of not only jobs in the industry, but food coming from the industry. The lack of a shellfish population will begin to impact the rest of the food chain, moving the problem out of the water and onto the jobs of humans. Raising awarness of this problem is essential because we need to stop it from progressing more to the point of complete extinction of many water animals and plants. Hopefully now that the issue of climate change is taking human's jobs more people will open their eyes to the problem and take action to slow the process of climate change.
https://www.scientificamerican.com/arti … n-impacts/