Effects Of Ocean Acidification On Marine Life

The Effects of Ocean Acidification on Marine Life
As humans, we often see ourselves as the top of the food chain throughout the atmosphere, being the creatures with the most influence on shaping our environments and the living conditions of ourselves and other life. With that power, also comes the responsibility to be aware of how our actions and how they affect the natural balance in the biosphere. Since the rise of the industrial revolution, however, we have a great flux in carbon dioxide fluxes. Two of the main anthropogenic (originating in human activity) causes of these fluxes are deforestation and the burning of fossil fuels. This imbalance has led to acidification of the oceans, which endanger the lives of many marine animals, such
as the clownfish, and the organisms in their immediate environment. We need to take a closer look at if the benefits of more open land and burning fossil fuels so rapidly are worth the costs the rest of the biosphere is paying.
Over the past 800,000 years, the CO2 concentrations have been steadily within the range of 172 to 300 parts per million by volume (ppmv) (Luthi and Le Floch, 2008). Since the Industrial Era (beginning in about 1760, or 350 years ago) those levels have risen to reach 387 ppmv. The main causes of this rise are the high rate of burning fossil fuels, coupled with deforestation, which is often to build homes and commercial buildings.
According to the US Department of Energy, the burning of fossil fuels produces about 21.3 tons of CO2 a year, but estimate that natural processes can only handle about half of that (Department of Energy, 2007). Since these natural causes include photosynthesis by trees and plants,which use absorb CO2 with sun energy to produce sugars for metabolic processes, we can see the effect of deforestation in increasing CO2 levels.
Another natural process is the absorption of CO2 by the ocean waters from the atmosphere. Carbon dioxide in water forms bicarbonate, which is a weak acid, which lowers pH, giving an increase in hydrogen ions.

The mean surface ocean pH has gone up from approximately 8.2 to 8.1 between now the pre-Industrial era and the 1990’s, and researchers have estimated that the pH may reach 7.8 by year 2100 (Gattuso and Lavigne, 2009).
These changes in seawater chemistry have wide-ranging effects on marine creatures and their physiological processes. For instance, acidification of seawater makes it more difficult for shellfish to calcify and form shells, with blue mussels and Pacific Oysters showing a decrease in calcification of 25% and 10% respectively (Gazeau et al. 2007). This also affects the ability of certain species of coral to calcify, which many organisms marine plants and fish live in for survival. The other problem this brings is that it reduces the amount of seafood of commercial grade. The seafood industry was estimated to be at $91.2 billion dollars(FAO 2009), and seafood not only is a main source of food security for many people, but a source of jobs (Cooley and Doney
2009).
Though the effects of CO2 and ocean acidification are widely recognized, the difficulites arise with the feasibility of making changes.
Currently, fossil fuel usage makes up 86.4% of the world’s primary energy sources, mainly in petroleum (36%), coal (27.4%), and natural gas (23.0%) (US Department of Energy). Though efforts are being made to convert to more environmentally-friendly solutions such as wind, solar, and electrical power, these resources usually are more expensive and less convenient currently. Currently, governing bodies such as the United Nations and EPA are working to develop strategies to curb the issue. Ideas such as geoengineering and using quicklime in oceans to absorb CO2 have been discussed, but the studies are still early, and long-term effects aren’t yet fully known. Another issue would be that large companies and governments may be less willing to get rid of their entire infrastructures and the jobs they provide in favor of less profitable and more expensive methods.
Ocean acidification is one of many recently recognized phenomena that has come to light in studying the effects of CO2 emissions on climate change. Current research showing the growing rate of climate change would suggest that this problem is only going to get worse moving forward without human action. The Oceans and marine life that inhabit them are key components in our biosphere that we will want to maintain and take action upon sooner rather than later, before we get to a point where
the costs on the planet become irreversible.

References
1. Cooley, S.R. and Doney, S.C. (2009) Ocean acidification’s impact on fisheries and societies: a U.S. perspective. Current, the Journal of Marine Education, 25
2. Gattuso, J-P. and Lavigne, H. (2009). Technical note: approaches and software tools to investigate the impact of ocean acidification. Biosciences, 6
3. Gazeau, F., Quibllier, C., Jansen, J.M., Gattuso, J-P. (2007). Impact of elevated CO2 on shellfish calcification. Geophysical Research Letters, 31
4. Luthi,D., Le Floch, M., Bereiter, B. et al. (2008). High-resolution carbon dioxide concentration record 650,000-800,000 years before present. Nature, 453
5. US Department of Energy "What Are Greenhouse Gases?" Retrieved 2007-09-09
6. Allaboutwildlife.com. “Endangered species most endangered by global warming”. allaboutwildlife.com/endangered-species-most-endangered-by-global-warming/4256