OCEAN ACIDIFICATIONGEGE CLEMENTS, HANNAH LELITO, DEVON CALLARO

WHAT IS OCEAN ACIDIFICATION?• THE INCREASE IN CO2 ABSORPTION IN THE OCEAN, WHICH CAUSES A DECREASE OF

THE OCEANS PH. LEVELS• CALCIUM CARBONATE MINERALS ARE THE PRIMARY BUILDING BLOCKS FOR

SKELETON AND SHELLS OF MARINE ORGANISMS. WITH THE CONTINUATION OF INCREASING OCEAN ACIDIFICATION, THESE SKELETONS AND SHELLS SLOWLY CORRODE.

• SINCE THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION, PH. IN THE OCEAN HAS FALLEN BY 0.1 PH. UNITS (30%).

• SCIENTISTS ESTIMATE THAT BY THE END OF THIS CENTURY, PH. LEVELS OF SURFACE WATERS COULD BE 150% MORE ACIDIC

FACTS• OCEANS CURRENTLY ABSORB ABOUT A THIRD OF HUMAN-CREATED CO2

EMISSIONS, ROUGHLY 22 MILLION TONS A DAY• CO2 CAPACITY OF OCEANS DIMINISHING = MORE CO2 REMAINS IN THE

ATMOSPHERE • CORAL REEFS ARE BEING LOST TWICE AS FAST AS RAINFORESTS

• AT THIS RATE OF DESTRUCTION, AN ENTIRE CORAL REEF IS LOST EVERY DAY• OCEAN PLANKTON PROVIDE 50% OF THE OXYGEN WE BREATHE

• OCEAN ACIDIFICATION AFFECTS LIFE-SPAN AND DEVELOPMENT OF PLANKTON • TODAY, MORE THAN A BILLION PEOPLE WORLDWIDE RELY ON FOOD

SOURCES FROM THE OCEAN AS THEIR PRIMARY SOURCE OF PROTEIN

HOW RESEARCHERS ARE STUDYING OCEAN ACIDIFICATION

• TANKS ARE SET UP WITH A VARIETY OF PH LEVELS TO FIGURE OUT HOW DIFFERENT SPECIES REACT TO MORE ACIDIC WATER• STRUCTURE OF SHELLS, METABOLISM AND BEHAVIOR OR AQUATIC

ORGANISMS IS OBSERVED • USE OF CAMERAS IN DIFFERENT OCEAN LOCATIONS TO

OBSERVE AN ENTIRE ECOSYSTEM• USING PH-SENSITIVE DYES THAT TURN FROM PURPLE TO

YELLOW IN MORE ACIDIC WATERS• ALLOW SCIENTISTS TO TRACK CHANGES PRODUCED BY 15 YEARS

OF CO2 UPTAKE NEAR THE OCEAN'S SURFACE

REAL LIFE-EVIDENCE• DISCOVERY THAT THE SHELLS OF SEA BUTTERFLIES IN ANTARCTIC WATERS

DISSOLVING WAS FIRST PIECE OF EVIDENCE THAT SHOWED EFFECTS OF OCEAN ACIDIFICATION • SEA BUTTERFLIES HAVE BEGUN TO MOVE TOWARD NORTH AND SOUTH POLES AND OVERALL

LESS COMMON

• SINCE 1960 – RESEARCHERS STUDYING CALCIUM CARBONATE-SHELLED PLANKTON HAVE MOVED NORTH AND HAVE BECOME LESS COMMON • MOST PLANKTON LARVAE NO LONGER DEVELOP FULLY AND HAVE A GREATER CHANCE OF

DEATH DUE TO PH. LEVELS

• UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH FLORIDA RESEARCHERS HAVE BEGUN STUDYING THE PH. VARIATIONS OF UPPER-OCEAN WATER IN THE NORTHEASTERN PACIFIC OCEAN • DECREASED BY APPROXIMATELY 0.026 UNITS OVER THE PAST DECADES – EQUIVALENT TO

AVERAGE ANNUAL PH CHANGE OF 0.0017Deteriorating shells of Antarctic sea butterflies

EFFECTS• DANGERS CALCIFYING SPECIES LIKE OYSTERS, CLAMS, LOBSTERS, SEA

URCHINS, SHALLOW AND DEEP SEA CORALS • RISK OF SHELLED ORGANISMS DYING OUT POSSESSES A RISK TO ALL OF

AQUATIC FOOD WEB• CAUSES REPRODUCTIVE DISORDERS IN SOME FISH

• MOST FISH QUICKLY ADAPT TO SLIGHT CHANGES IN PH LEVELS• PHOTOSYNTHETIC ALGAE AND SEA GRASSES MAY BENEFIT DUE TO THE

INCREASED LEVELS OF CO2

Healthy coral reef degraded by increased acidity of Puerto Rican waters

HOT SPOTS (WHERE OCEAN ACIDIFICATION IS OCCURRING)

• OCCURRING IN OCEANS THROUGHOUT THE WORLD • LOWEST ACIDITY LEVELS:

• ARTIC OCEAN • HIGHEST ACIDITY LEVELS:

• PACIFIC OCEAN (NEAR CARIBBEAN ISLANDS)• INDIAN OCEAN • ATLANTIC OCEAN

VIDEO • ACID OCEAN - HTTP://OCEANACIDIFICATION.NET/

SOURCES • HTTP://OCEAN.NATIONALGEOGRAPHIC.COM/OCEAN/CRITICAL-ISSUES-OCEAN-

ACIDIFICATION/

• HTTP://WWW.PMEL.NOAA.GOV/CO2/STORY/WHAT+IS+OCEAN+ACIDIFICATION%3FHTTP://WWW.SCIENCEDAILY.COM/RELEASES/2013/08/130825171730.HTM

• HTTP://WWW.SCIENCEDAILY.COM/RELEASES/2013/08/130825171730.HTM • HTTP://WWW.NRDC.ORG/OCEANS/ACIDIFICATION/ • HTTPS://WWW.WHOI.EDU/MAIN/TOPIC/OCEAN-ACIDIFICATION • HTTP://

WWW.EPA.GOV/CLIMATECHANGE/SCIENCE/INDICATORS/OCEANS/ACIDITY.HTML