Tag: ocean acidification

Acidic Oceans a Threat to Arctic Life

by Anne-Maria Yritys, posted in Change Leadership, climate action, climate leadership, Global Climate Change

Arctic (11)

In my previous post, What Contributes to Ocean Acidification?, I explained briefly what contributes to ocean acidification and why this is so harmful to our marine ecosystems. The response to why this is a serious threat to life in the Arctic region is thus quite simple, when we understand what contributes to ocean acidification and how this affects our ocean´s overall well-being.

The more greenhouse gases released into Earth´s atmosphere, a significant amount of which end up in our oceans, the bigger the damage in our marine ecosystems. When around nine million (9.000.000) people die each year worldwide due to pollution only, we can only imagine what all of the pollution, including dangerous toxins such as greenhouse gases, does to our atmosphere, our waters and our environment in general. In many parts of the world, e.g. coral reefs are already suffering and dying due to all of the pollution and toxins absorbed by our ocean´s and other water sources. Coral reefs are living beings, small animals, which are extremely important to our marine ecosystems. If we lose our corals due to human-caused release of toxins such as greenhouse gases, we will ultimately destroy ourselves.

ALL of our marine ecosystems are already endangered and damaged. What makes the Arctic region especially vulnerable is its unique ecosystem, which has until now been protected by thick layers of ice and permafrost. When glaciers melt, ice sheets melt, and permafrost melts, the release of dangerous and harmful greenhouse gases, especially methane, accelerates and causes even more damage to our (marine) ecosystem.

Learn more about Arctic Ocean Acidification by watching Nordisk Samarbejde´s video:

 

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What Contributes to Ocean Acidification?

by Anne-Maria Yritys, posted in Change Leadership, climate action, climate leadership, Global Climate Change

Arctic (10)

Ocean acidification is a serious threat to our planet and our marine ecosystems. The term ocean acidification signifies changes in the ocean´s natural pH balance, with pH in chemistry referring to the acidity and/or alkalinity of a solution on a logarithmic scale where seven (7) is neutral. The lower the pH of the solution, the higher the acidity and the higher the pH, the lower the acidity. pH is also a measure of the hydrogen ion concentration of a solution. (Academic Brooklyn).

Lower pH levels have also been measured in soils around the world, meaning that e.g. farming soils have in many places become more acidic due to a number of reasons, including poor soil management. pH can and is also measured in us human beings: some people even exercise alkaline diets with the thought that our bodies are healthier the more pH-balanced they are. Thus, eating and drinking habits that lead to our bodies becoming more acidic are thought as of being responsible for many health problems. A healthy human being has, on the average, a body pH of 7.4.

Since healthy and balanced pH levels are important for everything living on our planet, including ourselves, we can only guess what the consequences are when a normal pH becomes imbalanced: even small variations in a healthy pH can lead to significant changes in health, not only in us human beings but also in our soils and in our marine environments. Therefore, imbalances in our ocean´s pH levels and ocean acidification should be taken seriously.

The main cause of ocean acidification as per today is our oceans intake of carbon dioxide. All human activities on the planet release greenhouse gases into our atmosphere, with the amount of CO2 in our atmosphere being higher than ever before in human history. Up to 40% of all greenhouse gases in Earth´s atmosphere are being absorbed by our oceans, with e.g corals acting like trees in forests: corals in our oceans absorb toxins and pollution in the same way as our trees in our forests. Needless to say, this leads not only to a collapse in our coral ecosystems, but an immense amount of greenhouse gases in our marine environments that become more and more acidic. With the Arctic region warming, it releases a significant amount of both CO2 and methane (a significantly more powerful greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide), which leads to increased acidification all over our planet, destroying our world´s natural (pH) balance and making everything around us more acidic.

Learn more about ocean acidification by watching randomSFstuff´s video “Ocean Acidification Explained”:

 

Connect with me on Twitter @annemariayritys. For climate/environment-related posts only @GCCThinkActTank. Subscribe to Leading With Passion to receive my latest posts.

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Why Are Our Oceans Becoming More Acidic?

by Anne-Maria Yritys, posted in Change Leadership, climate action, climate leadership, Global Climate Change

Global Climate Change (62)

“NOAA (National Ocean Service). Ocean acidification refers to a reduction in the pH of the ocean, caused primarily by uptake of carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere.”

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Note from author: Greenhouse gas emissions, such as carbon dioxide, decreases the pH balance of our world´s oceans since a significant amount of these greenhouse gases are being absorbed e.g. by oceans. Ocean acidification, according to National Geographic, endangers both shelled animals and causes reproductive disorders in some fish species.

In the following Ted Talk Rob Dunbar speaks to us about The Threat of Ocean Acidification:

 

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