PROJECT SEA PICKLES
@ Shadle Park Highschool
Our goal with this project is to adress and minimize the impacts of ocean acidification through scientific cooperation at all levels. More specifically, through providing an easily accessable page to educate the public about specific effects global warming and rising CO2 levels have on ocean ecosystems.
Endangered Species We're Trying 2 Save!!
What Is Ocean Acidification?
Ocean acidification is the decrease of pH levels in the ocean, meaning the ocean becoming more acidic over time. The main cause of falling ocean pH levels are higher levels of CO2 from the atmosphere dissolving into the ocean. The reason more CO2 leads to lower pH levels is because when CO2 disolves into water the CO2 and water react with eachother, and form carbonic acid (H2CO3), a weak acid. Then the carbonic acid dissasociates into carbonate and hydrogen ions, which soon form h30+ hydronium ions, the strongest ion that can exist in an aqueous solution (a solution with water as the solvent). To summarize, CO2 from the atmosphere dissolves into the ocean and interacts with the water to form acid, more acid in a solution makes pH levels drop.
How Is It Affecting Ocean Ecosystems?
Acidity in water eats away at minerals like calcium carbonate used to repair and develop the skeletons of fish, coral, the shells of crustaceans, and other marine calcifiers. This makes it difficult for marine life that rely on their hard shells or skeletons to survive in their ideal conditions. Their population declines such a significant amount that predators can no longer survive on their main food source. This means that not only does ocean acidification hurt small marine life like oyesters and coral, it also hurts larger species of marine life that rely on them, and eventually it will hurt us.
How Can We Combat Ocean Acidification?
The simplest way we could attempt to slow the process of ocean acidification is to prevent the main cause; carbon in the atmosphere. Fossil fuels amount for over 90% of carbon emissions. Oil amounts for 30% of fossil fuels, coal 27%, and natural gas 24%. Over 80% of energy comes from fossil fuels. Why does this matter? In order to reduce carbon being emitted into the atmosphere, we must shift our choice of energy use to more sustainable options, such as:
Nuclear