intro to ocean acidification

Ocean acidification is an often-overlooked environmental problem, but nonetheless it is still a very big problem that creates many issues. Excess CO2 in the ocean triggers something known as acidification. Acidification is known as the process of becoming more acidic. With CO2 levels rising over the past decades it is shown that the ocean is absorbing some of this excess CO2 and it is changing the ocean and making it more acidic. The more acidic the ocean gets it can become very harmful for marine life. This higher acidity could possibly wipe out an entire species that cannot survive in high acidities. This can also disturb the food chain of the ocean, and harm tourism and fishing. Many species, including corals, use calcium carbonate for shells and calcium carbonate is more likely to dissolve in a more acidic environment. Scientists have begun to see this process take place in coral and cause their skeletons to become weaker.

Environmental problems have recently become a very big concern and are well known around the world, but there are so many issues that many get overlooked even if they are just as pressing and important as others are. Ocean acidification is one of the issues that gets overlooked. This problem does not only affect marine life, it also affects people.

Many small islands rely on fishing for income and as a food source. Ocean acidification can cause some species of fish to go extinct because they cannot handle being in a more acidic environment. People need to realize that we are connected to the ocean; we are not separate from it. It is a part of our world and is something we need to protect, we rely on it for food, medicine, transportation and much more.

In the past animals have been evolving in an oceanic environment which had low CO2 levels, because of this they are not able to easily evolve to the sudden increase in CO2 levels. In the 1950’s CO2 levels were around 310 ppm and today they are very close to reaching 400 ppm. If this trend continues many species will not be able to keep up and will go extinct. The ocean has a very fragile balance and ocean acidification could completely throw off that balance, species that are crucial to the food chain and other processes may no longer be around and then other species would have to adapt even further. Research shows acidification primarily affects species at the lower end of the food chain, but to fully understand the effect this could have one could relate it to the Butterfly Effect, which explores the idea that one small event could end up having giant consequences. So even though it seems small and insignificant that only lower food chain species are primarily being affected, eventually it will affect many more species and consequently the delicate balance of the ocean.

The spike in carbon dioxide levels in the ocean began when the industrial revolution began, so it is clear that this is not a normal occurrence and that humans are at blame. We are the ones who caused this which means we are the ones who need to make a change to reverse or slow it. Even just one person can make a difference on this problem, as shown by the Forest Man of India, he made a difference by all the trees he planted, trees take in CO2 and spit back out oxygen, so all the trees he is planting is taking some of the burden off the ocean by taking more CO2 out of the air. The problem is, many humans are cutting trees down, which causes the ocean to have to absorb even more CO2.

It’s amazing everything the human species has accomplished in the last 150 years, but when you look at all the negative side affects that have been caused by our advances, it leads you to question if our advances are really a good thing? Does the benefit outweigh the consequence? Is it really worth bettering our lives if it possibly means destroying multiple other species and possibly pushing them to extinction? And if we have already done this much damage what kind of further damage will we cause as we keep advancing? There seems to be a divide between humans and the rest of the species on earth, I feel like people sometimes forget that we are not the only species living on this earth, and that being the most advanced species it might need to be our responsibility to protect it and make sure that we allow all species and this earth itself to be around as long as possible.