Lesson 5 Activity 2 Oceans: The Other Carbon Pool
organic carbon Ocean Atmosphere Biomass Soil Fossil Fuels
organic carbon Atmosphere Inorganic CO2 Biomass organic carbon Soil organic carbon Fossil Fuels organic carbon Weve talked about 4 pools so far. Now we are introducing the ocean pool. Where is the carbon in the ocean pool?
Oceans contain 50 times more carbon dioxide than the atmosphere! Carbon is located in carbon dioxide (CO2) in the water. Carbon is located in calcium carbonate (CaCO3) in coral reefs and animal shells. Ocean organic carbon Why is ocean acidification harmful?
Increased levels of CO2 turn the ocean acidic. Acidic oceans mean that coral reefs cannot take carbon from the water to build their bodies. Acidic water also means that animals with shells (krill, crabs, shrimp, etc) cannot make their shells, which impacts the entire marine ecosystem. This graph is part of the 2013 National Climate Assessment, which can be found at This graph shows that as atmospheric CO2 levels go up (red line), oceanic CO2 levels go up (dark blue line), and ocean pH goes down (light blue line). How does climate change affect the oceans?
Melting ice caps cause water levels to rise Increased ocean temperatures affect ecosystems and living things in the oceans Increase in carbon is absorbed by the water Ocean organic carbon How do unhealthy oceans impact people?
Rising water levels impact people who live near oceans and on islands. Acidic water and temperature rise harms animals, which hurts the fishing industry. Rising ocean temperatures lead to more extreme weather events (hurricanes, heavy precipitation, etc). Ocean organic carbon How would the Keeling Curve look if there were no oceans?