Ocean Acidification and The Threat to Marine Life

The latest environmental debates that have taken place over the past year or so have made us quite aware of the problem with greenhouses gases, particularly with carbon dioxide (CO2) which is released by a number of factories, industries, plants, and even our cars whenever fossil fuels, such as coal and petroleum, are burned. All of this CO2 is released into the atmosphere and contributes to the growing problem of global warming; however, the greenhouse effect is not the only problem caused by CO2 emissions.

The gases released into the air also end up in our rivers, streams, and oceans around the world. This is particularly troublesome when CO2 is involved because once carbon dioxide enters the ocean it becomes carbonic acid. This means that the tranquil waters that were once a haven for marine life become a corrosive and hostile environment of acidity. Certain types of marine life, such as coral and shell fish, can literally be dissolved by the acidity in the water when it becomes too high.

Now, new studies are being conducted to determine what the effects of ocean acidification will be not only to these highly vulnerable individuals, but to entire ecosystems as well as other forms of marine life. Since various species of marine life will have various tolerance levels there has not been a lot of research done into long term ecosystem models that will show the result of this continuing acidity of the ocean but many hope that new research being conducted by marine biologists will give scientists, governments, and conservationist vital information that they need to combat this problem and educate the public about its seriousness. To that end, NPR has done a story discussing this vital issue, you can read more about it here.