Our abuse of natural resources, such as fossil fuels, rampant deforestation, and changes in land use, has wreaked havoc on the oceans.
Climate change has caused dangerous phenomena around the world. It has also released carbon dioxide, which has led to ocean acidification.
Ultimately, the oceans absorb atmospheric carbon dioxide, essential for climate regulation and mitigation.
However, the unprecedented amount of carbon dioxide humans create surpasses what our oceans can absorb.
Thus, it changes ocean chemistry, making the seas more acidic. This article will further explain what is turning the seas into acid.
Understanding the Ocean’s pH Level
The ocean’s acidity is measured on a pH scale. A lower pH indicates a more acidic ocean. Over the past two hundred years, the ocean pH has dropped by 30%.
Some might find the drop in the ocean’s pH from 8.2 to 8.1 small. However, the scale is logarithmic, meaning the change is already large enough to affect the ocean’s species, including fish and corals.
The changing ocean acidity can throw off marine life's chemical balance, making it more difficult for them to survive.
Over the years, this issue has focused primarily on coral reefs. The reefs are threatened and nearing extinction unless we change our lifestyles.
The coral reefs are considered the framework builders. These are the most diverse ecosystems of the oceans.
We must note that ocean acidification's impact does not stop at coral reefs. Like dominoes, its effects are far-reaching throughout the oceans.
Importance of pH Balance in the ocean
Indeed, pH balance is essential to all living things. If there is a change in the internal pH level, it can compromise the animal’s health. Worse, it can even kill it.
Marine plants and animals must regulate their internal pH levels about the surrounding seawater. Some fish and plants have complex systems that help them regulate their internal pH and prevent them from becoming basic or acidic.
Meanwhile, other species do not have these systems. Thus, they can become influenced by their surrounding environment and be affected by the changing acidity.
Some marine species are immune to ocean acidification due to their complex buffering capabilities. However, research shows that rising ocean acidity has overwhelmed some marine animals.
If we continue to allow the oceans to become more acidic, we put them at risk of becoming less dynamic and vibrant. The future oceans of our children will be different from what we have in the past.
It is clear that because of ocean acidification poses a major threat to marine life. It affects the food, goods, and services that we depend on.
Reducing carbon dioxide emissions is the only effective way to change this phenomenon.
Our actions today will determine the acidity of our oceans in the future. If we do nothing, the oceans will become more acidic in the coming years than in the last twenty million years.
Indeed, we are changing the ocean’s acidity very fast, which is unprecedented and alarming. According to research, most marine species have never adjusted to the changing pH level of 6.
But remember that this must not be the ocean’s fate. We can reduce the risk of this catastrophe by reducing our carbon dioxide emissions now.
Far-Reaching Effect of Ocean’s Acidification
The increasing acidification of the oceans can lead to a carbonate shortage. Plants and animals need This important building block to build their skeletons and shells. Apart from corals, other animals that use carbonate to strengthen and build their shells, like calcifiers, can also suffer. Examples of these are oysters, clams, crabs, and lobsters.
However, carbonate is not just the only problem. Each marine life, from smallest to largest, can be affected by ocean acidification. Both can be a direct or indirect impact.
A direct impact may refer to the physiology of plants and animals. It can result in the lack of carbonate for their bodies to strengthen and build their skeletons and shells. Due to the increasing acidity, some fish may reduce their breathing ability in the coming years. It can also increase the growth rates of sea stars.
Furthermore, the ocean’s acidification can limit the smelling cues of some fishes. This affects their direction to their suitable habitat or their predators. It can divert their energy away from some survival tasks that many species have.
Meanwhile, the indirect effects include the loss of fish habitat. It can also change the abundance of predator populations and change food availability,
Indeed, the direct and indirect impacts could all result in fish's inability to survive. This can have population-level consequences and greatly affect the entire marine ecosystem.
Failure in the Pacific Oyster Farms
Since 2005, shellfish farmers have experienced the harmful effects of ocean acidification. Oyster larvae have been increasing, affecting shellfish. This is because the U.S. Pacific Coast is becoming more acidic. Studies show the disaster has led to over 100 million dollars in losses on the West Coast.
Increasing ocean acidity has also affected mussels, mollusks, clams, and scallops. These animals all create calcium carbonate shells, which help them protect their bodies from predators, diseases, and the harsh weather conditions of the oceans.
Mollusks build their shells from a highly soluble type of calcium carbonate. Studies have found that the shell growth rate declined due to ocean acidification until the end of this century.
Slow shell growth can reduce the ability of the mollusks to survive. Thus, it can affect commercial fishing.
Decrease Growth of the Corals
Coral reefs are important in the coastal communities and our nation. Through the years, coral reefs have also shown signs of decline because of ocean acidification. In the Great Barrier Reef, one can find that there has been a 14% reduction in skeletal growth since the 1990s. In the last 400 years, this is considered the largest decrease in the growth rate.
The decline in coral reef growth rate from mid-century to the end of this century can be attributed to mass die-off.
Meanwhile, around 500 million people depend on reefs for coastal protection, food, and income.
According to economists, reef goods cost between 30 and 172 billion dollars annually. Healthy reefs provide services and goods to the community, including fisheries, tourism, coastal protection, education, and aesthetic values.
In Hawaii, coral reefs help generate 364 million dollars of income because of tourism. If the reefs collapse because of the increasing global warming and acidity, coastal communities will suffer from these impacts.
The 30 million people dependent solely on coral reef ecosystems can suffer serious health effects. Indeed, the decline in coral reefs can be felt in the smallest to the largest communities, greatly affecting the national and global economies.
Decrease the Number of Fishes
Around four thousand fish species depend on coral reefs for habitat. Some, like butterflyfish, feed only on coral reefs.
Other fish species depend on coral reefs for shelter and nurseries. The loss of coral reefs can also result in the loss of fish because their habitat will be unavailable.
Coral die-offs because of bleaching events are one example of the relationship between corals and fish. Indeed, the reefs are the fish’s habitats. Because of the bleaching event in Papua New Guinea, 75% of the fish on the reefs died. Furthermore, several fish species have become extinct.
These examples will give us all a clue about what might happen. Unfortunately, coral reefs are beginning to disappear due to the increasing acidity of the ocean.
Death of the Sea Turtles
Sea turtles are one of the most endangered marine animals, feeding and resting on coral reefs. They are fond of eating on the reef species. Examples of these are mollusks, sponges, soft corals, and algae.
The decline in coral reefs can impact turtle feeding behaviors. It can even lead to them eating less nutritious food, which could cause them to go hungry and die.
The turtle’s ability to dig a nest and incubate eggs successfully is linked to the ability to find a healthy coral reef. The amount and type of sand on the nesting beaches determine these activities.
Beach sand near the coral reefs is made of the skeletal remains of the animals and plants on the reef. It also includes the decayed parts of the reefs themselves.
As the oceans become acidic, reef species will decrease, affecting the amount and type of sand that reaches the beaches.
Changes in the sand and nesting beaches can negatively affect the sea turtles’ ability to produce new hatchlings. This can reduce the population size of these endangered marine species.
Conclusion
Human activities have affected the oceans, forcing marine species to live in unusual scenarios that have not existed for the past million years.
We still don’t know the full extent of how human activities affect marine life, but we know that some species have gone extinct.
In time, these species will become less diverse and vibrant. The undesirable species will become the winners in the end. This is true because there is a decline in direct competition, and predators will now dominate.
Some species can increase their growth rate, and carbon dioxide will be abundant.
However, the big problem is that this marine ecosystem does not reflect a healthy ocean. It reflects an overall decline in marine biodiversity and can signify an ocean out of balance.
Ocean acidification is never good when we talk about the ocean perspective. The result of this phenomenon can impact all types of marine life.
Studies show that species will negatively give rise to acidity as it decreases calcification. In some ways, it can increase shell growth and muscle mass.
Non-calcifiers have also shown responses that will decrease their ability to survive an acidic environment in the future. As it directly impacts various important food providers and habitats, the increasing acidity can change the ocean ecosystem. It can even lead to the collapse of the food web.
Indeed, ocean acidification is changing the conditions upon which marine species have adapted for the past million years. It threatens to push the species to conditions they cannot adopt beyond their survival limits.
The current marine conditions challenge some species. However, what we are seeing is just the tip of the iceberg. If ocean acidification continues, other species will be pushed to the edge.
It will force millions of people to find new homes, new food sources, and sources of income with ocean acidification. The most vulnerable communities worldwide will find it hard to find alternatives. Sometimes, they have nothing to compensate for losing marine services and goods.
Adapting to these losses will require huge resources from the national and global community. In some cases, adaptation is even impossible.
Thus, a smarter future involves reducing carbon dioxide emissions. We must learn to transition to renewable and cleaner sources of energy.
Meanwhile, transitioning to new energy in our economy is the best solution and cost-effective way to protect the oceans.
This transition will not be easy, but it is possible with current and emerging alternative technologies, energy efficiency improvements, and conservation improvements. It is also necessary for the sake of the oceans and ourselves.
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