The Chaotic Transformation of the Ocean Environment Today

Everybody loves the beach. Warm sand beneath your feet, waves calmly crashing to the ground, beautiful wildlife both in and around the water… all reasons to fall in love with the ocean. However, what if 1 told you that our oceans are undergoing extreme changes due to the amount of excess C02 we release into the air? According to the Smithsonian Institution, ocean water has become 30% more acidic in the past 200 years, which is faster than any known change in ocean chemistry in the past 50 million years and presently, the ocean absorbs around 22 million tons of C02 per day.

Today, I want to discuss with y’all how ocean acidification is affecting marine life, how it is affecting humans, and how it is affecting our environment. lam credible to talk about this because I have done extensive research on this topic and have followed this topic for years. To begin, ocean acidification is affecting marine life. According to sciencedaily.com, many organisms such as coral, clams, mussels, sea urchins, barnacles, and certain microscopic plankton rely on equilibrated chemical conditions and pH levels to build their calcium-based shells and other structures.

The higher acidity makes it more difficult for calcifying species to make their calcium structures. A study published in Environment Science and Technology looks at the impact of increased acidity on species growth, reproduction, and survival and, using a high emission and low emission scenarios, found that between 21%-32% of calcifying species would be severely affected (high) and between 7-12% for the low emission.

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This may not sound like a lot, but some sensitive species may not be able to handle the hit, and this would push them one step closer to local extinction. Furthermore, humans will also suffer from the effects of ocean acidification. The first and most obvious way that this would affect humans is the decrease in seafood supply. Entrees including lobster, crab, mussels, clams, and any other type of shell fish would be more expensive and less common because each of these organisms require calcium carbonate to fortify their shells. Many fish that do not require this still rely on shellfish and the coral reef for their food source, such as seahorses. One Green Planet goes as far as to say that we may lose butterfly fish, spiny lobsters, whales and dolphins, whale sharks, and Hawksbill Sea Turtles if we keep destroying our coral reefs.

This would drastically affect our economy, as well, Around the world, about 200 million people directly or indirectly on the fishing industry. According to the Marine Stewardship Council, in 2003, the export value of the world trade of fish was $63 billion dollars a which is more than the exports of rice, coffee, sugar, and tea… combined. Lastly, the entire ocean environment will be affected by ocean acidification. “Calcifying species are indispensable for ecosystems worldwide: they provide nursery habitats for fish, food for marine predators, and natural defenses for storms and erosion. These species are also particularly vulnerable to ocean acidification triggered by increased fossil fuel emissions,“ says IIASA researcher Ligia Azevedo, who was lead researcher on the study I mentioned earlier. Now is the time to think back to high school biology — do you remember the food chain diagrams we had to make? Each species, from the plants to the top predator, relied on each other. Now imagine wiping out the entire bottom level of the web. The phytoplankton are gone, the zooplankton are gone, the crustaceans are gone, so of course, the larger fish, squid, and sharks are all going to suffer. What do they eat when all of theirfood is gone?? In conclusion, ocean acidification is an issue that is not going away. From the individual species, to the entire ecosystem, and even humans around the world, it is an issue that affects us all. So next time you go to Red Lobster or order a fish taco from your favorite food truck, keep in mind that if nothing changes, you may have to go without your favorite seafood dish… forever.