WHAT IS OCEAN ACIDIFICATION?

the reduction in the pH of the Earth’s ocean. This process

takes place over periods lasting decades or more. Its main cause
is the absorption of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
•Sometimes called “climate change’s equally evil twin,” and for
good reason: it's a significant and harmful consequence of
excess carbon dioxide in the atmosphere that we don't see or feel
because its effects are happening underwater.
•The ocean has absorbed some 525 billion tons of CO2 from the
atmosphere, presently around 22 million tons per day.
•At first, scientists thought that this might be a good thing
because it leaves less carbon dioxide in the air to warm the
planet. But in the past decade, they’ve realized that this slowed
warming has come at the cost of changing the ocean’s
chemistry.
WHAT CAUSES OCEAN ACIDIFICATION?
Ocean acidification is mainly caused by carbon dioxide gas in
the atmosphere dissolving into the ocean. This leads to a
lowering of the water's pH, making the ocean more acidic.
Many factors contribute to rising carbon dioxide levels.
Currently, the burning of fossil fuels such as coal, oil and gas for
human industry is one of the major causes.
Deforestation results in fewer trees to absorb the gas. Also,
when plants are cut down and burnt or left to rot, the carbon that
makes up their organic tissue is released as carbon dioxide.
WHAT ARE THE EFFECTS OF OCEAN ACIDIFICATION?

Ocean acidification is expected to have negative overall effects

on many marine species. This could alter marine food chains
and food supply to humans. Acidification could also decrease
storm protection from reefs, tourism opportunities, and other
benefits that are difficult to value.
Food: Ocean acidification has the potential to affect food
security. Commercially and ecologically important marine
species will be impacted, although they may respond in different
ways.
Coastal protection: Marine ecosystems such as coral reefs
protect shorelines from the destructive action of storm surges
and cyclones, sheltering the only habitable land for several
island nations. This protective function of reefs prevents loss of
life, property damage, and erosion.
Tourism: This industry could be severely affected by the
impacts of ocean acidification on marine ecosystems (e.g. coral
reefs).
Carbon storage and climate regulation: The capacity of the
ocean to absorb CO2 decreases as ocean acidification increases.
More acidic oceans are less effective in moderating climate
change.
EFFECT ON MARINE ECOSYTEM
BUILDING SHELLS
•Calcifiers organisms with shells or skeletons made from
calcium carbonate-are among the most abundant forms of
marine life.
• Carbonate ions are an important building block of structures
such as sea shells and coral skeletons.
•Ocean acidification reduces the amount of carbonate, a key
building block in seawater. This makes it more difficult for
marine organisms, such as coral and some plankton, to form
their shells and skeletons, and existing shells may begin to
dissolve
These changes in ocean chemistry can affect the behavior of non
calcifying organisms as well.
•Ocean acidification can negatively affect marine life, causing
organisms' shells and skeletons made from calcium carbonate to
dissolve. The more acidic the ocean, the faster the shells
dissolve.
NEUROLOGICAL EFFECTS
• Ocean acidification can affect fishes' sense of smell and alter
their behaviour.
In more acidic conditions, young clownfish loses the ability to
navigate home using their sense of smell.
• Fish are attracted to odours they normally avoid, such as the
scent of predators, and displayed uncharacteristically bold
behaviours such as roaming far from their home reet.
•Certain fish's ability to detect predators is decreased in more
acidic waters. When these organisms are at risk, the entire food
web may also be at risk.
MARINE FOOD WEB
•The food web and ocean acidification
•The marine food web is highly intereonnected. While some
species like calcifiers organisms are directly affected by ocean
acidification, other species are affected indireetly because they
eat shelled organisms or live in habitats they create. Ocean
acidification threatens the well-being of variety of species, and
impacts to these species will likely ripple throughout the food
web.
Here are five ways on how to prevent ocean acidification
1. Reduce Your Carbon Footprint:
The main cause of ocean acidification is from increasing
amounts of carbon dioxide entering the ocean. These mass
amount of CO2 cause the pH level of the water in the ocean to
decrease leading it to become more acidic. As this happens, it
becomes harder for marine life such as coral reefs to form. One
way to prevent this is by reducing your carbon footprint,
meaning being conscious of your energy consumption. Some
ways you can do this is by driving less (bike, walk, or carpool!)
compost your food waste, eat locally and eat low on the food
chain. All of these examples release less carbon dioxide into the
atmosphere, which means less CO2 in the ocean.
2. Stay Away From Plastic:
More than 8 million tons of plastic enters into the ocean every
year. Things like plastic water bottles, plastic bags, food
wrappers, and straws are the major types of waste found every
day in the ocean. The problem with plastic, unlike other types of
waste, is that is doesn’t decompose meaning it can stick around
indefinitely. To prevent our oceans from becoming plastic waste
pools, it’s important to stay away from plastic and use
alternatives such as reusable grocery bags, reusable water
bottles, and storing food in non-disposable containers!
3. Keep Our Beaches Clean:
Whether you enjoy surfing, kayaking, paddle boarding,
swimming or just relaxing on the beach, it’s always important to
remember to clean up after yourself. Trash and waste from
people and their pets are left on beaches every day. This trash
has easy access to the ocean from where it’s left, which becomes
extremely harmful to marine life as well as human life. To
prevent beaches from being trashed help remind yourself and
others to pick up after your finished, and if you want to go even
further, you can help by participating in a local beach clean up
near you.
4. Educate Yourself and Others:
Lastly, educating yourself and others on the situation can be the
most helpful and one of the easiest ways to save our oceans.
BIODIVERISTY
is all the different kinds of life you'll find in one area.
Biodiversity includes microorganisms, planets,
animals and ecosystem.
BIODIVERSITY LOSS
Biodiversity loss refers to the decline or disappeance of
biological diversity, understood as the variety of living
things that inhabit the planet, it's different levels of
biological organization and their respective genetic
variability, as well as the natural patterns present in
ecosystem.
Biodiversity loss have significant direct human health
impacts if ecosystem services are no longer adequate to
meet social needs. Indirectly, changes in ecosystem
services affect livelihoods, income, local migration and
on occasion, may even cause or exacerbate political
conflict.
EFFECTS OF BIODIVERSITY LOSS
•
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of diseases
Due to a loss in biodiversity, diseases are likely to occur
more frequently.
Since our environmental system is quite sensible and
structured, removing species from the food chain can
create serious trouble.
 If other animals are contaminated with these
diseases, it can also spill over to humans due to our
consumption of meat.
•Loss of our recreational space
We can also lose our recreational space as an effect of the
loss of biodiversity. Many people are stressed by their
work and sometimes need space to relax. A forest or a
lake surrounded by plants may be an optimal area for this.
However, if we further destroy our forests in order to get
more settlement space, we will lose many of these
recreational environments.
•Effect on food production
A loss in biodiversity can have vast adverse effects on
our food production.
Since we nowadays exploit many natural living spaces
to an unhealthy degree, chances are that we lose many
food sources which we could otherwise use in the future.
However, through the deforestation process, these species
are likely to be lost even before we can discover them.
Thus, we rob ourselves since we will not be able to use
this species in the future.
•Effect on Human health
The decrease in biodiversity has several implications for
human health. One such implication is the loss of
medicinal plants. The use of plants for medicinal purposes
is extensive, with ~70 to 80% of individuals worldwide
relying solely on plant-based medicine as their primary
source of healthcare.

Solutions to the Biodiversity Loss Problem

Government restrictions and policies
Protection of species
Protection of habitats
Stop deforestation
Prevent overhunting and overfishing
Stop pollution
Stop over-exploitation of resources
Stop over-consumption
Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle
Smart plantation of trees
Spread Awareness
Biodiversity Conservation
Avoid hunting and cutting of trees.

ICE MELTING
When a solid substance melts or when you melt it, it
changes to a liquid, usually because it has been heated.
At temperatures above 32°F (0°C), pure water ice
melts and changes state from a solid to a liquid (water);
32°F (0°C) is the melting point. For most substances, the
melting and freezing points are about the same
temperature.
 CAUSES OF ICE MELTING
•Burning of fossil fuels
The burning of fossil fuels has resulted in the buildup of
greenhouse gases in the environment thus influencing the
warming trend because they trap heat in the atmosphere.
•Oil and gas drilling
The oil and gas extraction process also emit Methane,
which is the main constituent in natural gas. Plus, the gas

is more damaging to the environment than carbon

dioxide, locking in heat more efficiently and escalating
global warming.
•Deforestation
Trees play a very important function in balancing the
ecosystem and the overall cooling of the planet. So,
cutting down trees to create more space for human
activities is actually proving detrimental to the
environmental balance.
Effects of Melting Ice on Humans and
Environment
Shortage of electricity
A lot of places all over the world depend exclusively on
the constantly flowing water from glaciers that are
melting in producing electricity. Reducing or stopping the
flowing of water will mean stopping the production of
electricity.
Biodiversity loss and animals losing homes
There are a lot of living organisms that rely mainly on
glaciers for continued existence. Some animals require the
cool temperatures for their day to day activities like the
blue bear and other animals that is belong to cool regions.
Coral Reefs will disappear
Coral reefs need sunlight for the process of
photosynthesis, enabling their survival. When water levels
increase due to glacier melting, sufficient sunlight will not
be able to reach the corals.
Reduction of agricultural production
Agricultural plants that mainly depend on the rain will
most likely not get affected by the melting glaciers.
Nevertheless, such places are few and do not contribute to
the major portion of agricultural lands.
Increasing global warming
Glaciers play a significant role in reflecting and absorbing
the heat on earth. This means that as glaciers keep on
melting, temperatures all over the world will at the same
rate keep on increasing. The earth is not able to deflect as
much heat as glaciers can thus heat will keep on
increasing, more glaciers continue melting and water
levels keep on increasing.

How we solve ice melting?

Using electricity and water wisely.
To swap from energy produced by fossil fuels to clean
energy sources such as wind and solar energy.
Driving less and walking more or taking the public
transportation system.
Practicing ecotourism.
Planting more trees wherever possible.
Applying 3R’s strategy to manage waste.
Keeping our environment clean.
Utilizing organic wastes as biomass in order to reduce the
extent of methane in the atmosphere.
Conserving our natural resources.
Spreading awareness for protecting our glaciers and polar
ice caps from melting.
What is meant by sea level rise?
Sea level rise is an increase in the level of the world's
oceans due to the effects of global warming.
Causes of Sea Rise Level

• Global warming
is the primary cause of current sea level rise. Human
activities, such as burning coal and oil and cutting down
tropical forests, have increased atmospheric
concentrations of heat-trapping gases and caused the
planet to warm by 1.4 degrees Fahrenheit.
• Shoreline erosion and degradation. Rising
sea levels allow waves to penetrate further inland, even
during calm conditions, increasing the potential for
erosion.
•Amplified storm surges
Coastal storms often cause storm surges, which occur
when high winds push water inland. With rising seas,
storm surges occur on top of an elevated water level and
reach farther inland, with potentially catastrophic damage
to homes and infrastructure.
EFFECTS OF SEA RISE LEVEL
The effects of sea level rise are already being felt, and
the forecasts are not very hopeful. First, water is
increasingly invading coastal areas, causing soil erosion
and threatening farmland, housing or recreation areas.
The flooding of wetlands and pollution of aquifers also
occur, affecting the flora and fauna of each place, causing
the loss of habitat for fish, birds, plants and many other
species.
On the other hand, a higher sea level causes heavy
rains and strong winds, unleashes severe storms and other
big atmospheric phenomena that can be a real threat to
places that might be on its way.
 On the social aspect, the constant threat of sea level
rise menaces hundreds of millions of people living in
coastal communities. If water continues to rise, they will
be forced to abandon their homes and move to another
area, with the corresponding demographic problem. This
is known as forced migration resulting from climate
change.
Finally, low-lying islands would be swallowed by the

oceans, leading to the disappearance of large land areas

and even some countries.
Solving for Sea Level Rise
•Building Seawalls
One solution that cities employ to decrease flooding
from tides and storms is constructing seawalls. These
barriers are often built to a height of five to six feet above
sea level.
•Raising Roads

Raising roads above sea level can help drain water and
reduce tidal flooding. In order to make sure that higher
roads don’t channel flood waters into homes and stores at
lower elevations, cities often use stormwater pumps to
remove this excess water
•Building Stormwater Pumps
With higher seas, water doesn’t drain out to the ocean as
easily. Drainage systems are designed to channel excess
rainwater from the streets and drain it into the sea, but the
pressure from rising sea levels and higher tides can push
too much water into these pipes, causing water to spill out
into streets. Pumps can speed up the process of getting
water out of the streets by vacuuming up the flood water
and releasing it back into the sea.