Ocean Acidification

During the first half of 2020, global greenhouse gas emissions dropped by about nine percent in the midst of the COVID-19 outbreak. People around the world reported seeing signs that “nature was healing” as a result of a steep decline in human activities such as transportation and production. 

However, a new study from UC Boulder has shown that the positive changes seen in natural ecosystems were not reflected throughout Earth’s oceans. 

Professor Nicole Lovenduski reports that there were no significant reductions in ocean acidification as a result of lower emissions. Even if emissions had been reduced at four times the rate in the first half of last year, changes in the ocean would have been barely noticeable, according to the study.

Event Details

Status: Rescheduled

Event Date: Original Start Date: Tuesday, December 8, 2020  Friday, January 8, 2021

Start Time: 3:00 PM

Location: Virtual Hearing

Event Description: Ocean Acidification Public Hearing and Commission Meeting

Title: Ocean Acidification Public Hearing and Commission Meeting

Agenda: 

3pm-4pm: Public hearing on the draft Ocean Acidification report

4pm-5pm: Vote on the final commission report

Dr. David Hastings, a retired college professor and marine scientist from Florida, sets out a worrying overview of the impact of ocean acidification.

Every time we burn coal, oil, or gas to produce electricity, power our vehicles, and heat our homes we are burning carbon which emits carbon dioxide. While most of the colorless, odorless gas stays in the atmosphere, about a third of the gas dissolves in the oceans. When CO2 dissolves in seawater, some of it is used by plankton and marine plants during photosynthesis, and the rest reacts with water to form carbonic acid, a weak, naturally occurring acid. According to Dr. David Hastings, a retired professor of marine science, we are burning so much fossil fuel and emitting so much carbon dioxide into the air, that billions of tons of carbon dioxide is going into the oceans every year. As a result, the oceans are becoming increasingly more acidic.

How is this changing the oceans? A retired professor and marine scientist, chemical oceanographer Dr. David Hastings present a first-hand look at the growing scale of the problem.Most biological processes are sensitive to the acidity, or pH, of their environment. Retired Professor David Hastings puts it differently: “Just like we don’t like heartburn, many animals living in the ocean don’t grow well in acidic waters. Marine animals that build shells, such as oysters, corals, clams and mussels are at risk from increasing ocean acidity. It’s like building a wall with bricks that fall apart.” Scientists are increasingly concerned that fish will be impacted as well.

We know the climate is changing. But the phrase “climate change” gets repeated so often it can be hard to remember what it really describes. It’s not just that the planet is getting hotter. Everything is changing. To better understand our future, Massive asked two climate scientists to describe what the world is facing. This is part two. Part one is here.

Fossil fuels are organic material – they’re made up of the remains of living things that, over hundreds of thousands of years, have broken down into oil and coal. When that fuel is burned, the carbon becomes carbon dioxide, which enters the atmosphere.

…

Carbon dioxide acidifies the ocean

Sudden influxes in freshwater aren’t the only things affecting the chemistry of the ocean. The sudden increase of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is having serious effects on the chemistry of seawater. Because the ocean and the atmosphere are in constant contact, about a third of the excess carbon dioxide that humans have emitted into the atmosphere has been absorbed by the ocean. This is a big deal for global climate because the absorption of that carbon dioxide has meant that it isn’t around to trap solar radiation and increase Earth’s temperature. 

Oysters in Atlantic Canada may have developed resistance to ocean acidification due to their long history of exposure to low pH conditions, a new study shows.

Ocean acidification describes the decrease in seawater pH due to the oceans absorbing excess carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. The deaths of millions of oyster larvae in the Pacific Northwest in 2007 due to ocean acidification highlighted how climate change, found to be the culprit behind the phenomenon, could devastate the industry and coastal economies.

“The change in ocean pH presents a challenge for marine life. A major consequence is that shellfish, like oysters, have a harder time making shells,” says Jeff Clements, research scientist at Fisheries and Oceans Canada and lead author of the study.

These winged water-dwellers are sea angels, floating marine slugs that may be the “canary in the coal mine” for severe ocean acidification caused by modern global warming.

Sea angels and their fluttering counterparts, sea butterflies, are pteropods. Pteropods first evolved in the early Cretaceous period, sharing the planet with dinosaurs and ammonites. The marine slugs are ancient and remarkably resilient; they have survived periods of major global extinctions and environmental changes, according to a study published in October 2020 in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. In addition, they are the only living creature of their kind with a solid fossil record, so they are uniquely situated to help researchers determine the effects of global change on the marine environment.

Instructions for Teachers

The pages are set so that, when printed double sided, they have a back and front, enabling for easy sorting. Before you print the whole deck, test your settings by printing the first two pages of cards, to check alignment. If it doesn’t match, then its likely to do with how the printer flips the page (either long end or short end), so make sure it is on the flipped on the long end. If you don’t want backs, then print every second page. There are two sizes of cards, mini and large, so have a look at both before you print.

Contents: 8x Hydrogen Cards, 8x Hydrogen Carbonate Cards, 19x Calcium Cards, 19x

Carbonate Cards, 1x Information Card

This card game works in 4 rounds. This works best in groups of 4, but can work with less or if necessary, up to 5 players per deck. Each player is role playing as a crab.

Round one: The game starts by placing all of the Calcium and Carbonate Ion Cards face down on the table, as well as two hydrogen and two hydrogen carbonate cards. Each person picks up 4 positive ion cards and 4 negative ion cards. The goal is to match. Calcium with Carbonate. If you have 4 pairs, your shell grows. 3 pairs means enough minerals have been gathered to repair their shell. 2 pairs means damage cannot be repaired, but doesn’t worsen and 1 pair means the shell gets further damage and cannot be repaired. Record the scores on a tally card.

Round two-four: At the end of the first round and each round after, all the cards are returned to the table, face down and an additional two hydrogen and two hydrogen carbonate cards are added, symbolising the acidification of the ocean through the dissolving of more CO2. Same rules for shell repair apply.

Person with the most points at the end wins (pairs). Enjoy.

From teacherspayteachers.com

Friday, 18 December 2020, 15:00

WonderLab Museum

facebook.com

In this edition of Dive Deeper we will talk about what ocean acidification, the problems it causes and what we can do to minimize our impact. To participate in the activity you will want, RED cabbage water (you can get this by boiling a head of cabbage in water for 15-20 minutes then allowing it to cool), white vinegar, 2 jars, a star and some water. We will be covering Indiana academic standards for 1st, 4th, and 5th grade Earth and Atmospheric Science, 3rd and 4th grade Life Science.

Click here to register for Zoom LIVE: https://zoom.us/meeting/register/tJMvc–sqD4jGdBpSa87JqQFl14E8stSGa83

Over the last 20 years, marine scientists have become increasingly concerned about changes in the acidity or pH of the ocean. About one-third of the carbon dioxide that humans have released into the atmosphere has been taken up by the ocean, causing seawater to become more acidic (lower pH). Ocean acidification has many effects on marine life, especially animals such as corals and shellfish, whose hard skeletons can dissolve if the surrounding seawater becomes too acidic.

MBARI researchers have been at the forefront of research on ocean acidification for decades, with Peter Brewer being one of the first scientists to study the problem in detail, and Ken Johnson developing some of the first pH sensors that work reliably in the deep sea. Marine chemist Yui Takeshita has continued this tradition, developing pH sensors that can work in a wide variety of dynamic environments, including coastal waters, coral reefs, and kelp beds.

This directed case study covers fundamental information about ocean acidification using relevant examples from general science news articles as well as data excerpted from scientific research. It was developed for general environmental science classes and beginning science majors in college; however, it could also be used in high school classes. The case is divided into three sections, each with a different focus. Part I introduces the topic of ocean acidification and provides an overview of ocean chemistry and the pH scale. Part II presents carbon dioxide emissions and pH data for students to analyze. The data include historical estimations since the Industrial Revolution as well as recent emission projections from the past few decades. Part III examines the effects of ocean acidification on the shell of a marine snail, the sea butterfly (Limacina helicina). The case concludes with a broader consideration of the potential biological implications for other marine organisms and the environment in general.

The U.S. National Science Foundation has just approved a $53 million grant to develop the biogeochemical mission of the global Argo array. 

This substantial contribution will add 500 floats to the global Argo network in the next five years (see Networks map below) and will boost the array to meet 50% of its target for global biogeochemical sampling of the ocean.

The investment marks the next phase of the Argo implementation story that started in the 2000s with the core Argo mission to measure and map ocean heat. Twenty years later and with an array of 4000 floats, Argo plays a vital role in our climate and weather forecasts.

Before you begin…

• Ensure you have a strong understanding of systems and models by reading the background information page, if you haven’t yet.
• You will need a pencil and paper as you work through this activity. You have the option of printing this webpage or recording your findings in a notebook.

Background: Ocean acidification and its impacts

As the issue of ocean acidification came to light, many scientists began to research what the result of more acidic oceans might be. We now know, for example, that lower pH caused by carbon dioxide makes it harder for shelled organisms to build shells, negatively affects the nervous systems of some fish, and can stimulate growth of aquatic plants. It turns out that elevated levels of CO2 also affect small reef fish. In a comprehensive article Munday et al. describe the “dramatic effect” of both elevated carbon dioxide concentrations and rising temperatures on “a wide range of behaviors and sensory responses” in various tropical fishes.

We’re going to use a specific study by Munday et al., “Replenishment of fish populations is threatened by ocean acidification” (PNAS, 2010) to build a model of how ocean acidification could affect clownfish-predator interactions.

Depuis sa ferme pédagogique installée à Boisset en Haute-Loire, Fanny Agostini met à l’honneur l’alimentation, la santé et l’agriculture. Ce lundi, elle s’intéresse aux bienfaits de la parentalité pour l’environnement. Selon elle, l’arrivée d’un enfant pourrait permettre à une famille de changer ses habitudes et sa consommation.

Congresswoman Suzanne Bonamici presented the Ocean-Based Climate Solutions Act. The bill is a comprehensive ocean climate package based on the Select Committee’s Climate Action Plan.

The Ocean-Based Climate Solutions Act aims to address the climate crisis, protect the ocean, and advance marine energy.

Every person on this planet benefits from a healthy ocean, but for too long the ocean has literally taken the heat for us

said Congresswoman Suzanne Bonamici.

The ocean priorities included in the new legislation are:

• The Blue Carbon for Our Planet Act, which would create a national map and inventory of coastal blue carbon ecosystems, like mangroves, tidal marshes, seagrasses, and kelp forests, that can remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and store it for centuries to millennia.
• The COAST Research Act, a comprehensive bill to confront the challenges of ocean acidification and coastal acidification and help coastal communities adapt.
• The Water Power Research and Development Act, which would scale up federal investments in marine energy, including the work at Oregon State University.
• The BLUE GLOBE Act, which would assess the potential of an Advanced Research Project Agency–Oceans (ARPA-O).
• The Shovel-Ready Restoration Grants for Coastlines and Fisheries Act, which is responsive to a House Oceans Caucus letter to Leadership requesting investments in coastal restoration and resilience projects to support and create good-paying jobs.
• The National Estuaries and Acidification Research (NEAR) Act, which would address the significant research gaps in our understanding of the effects of ocean and coastal acidification on our nation’s estuaries.
• The Coastal Communities Ocean Acidification Act, which would direct NOAA to conduct vulnerability assessments to identify communities that are dependent on coastal and ocean resources that may be affected by ocean acidification.
• The Ocean Acidification Innovation Act, for federal agencies to increase efforts to research, monitor, and manage ocean acidification and its effects.
• The Living Shorelines Act, which would create a grant program to support natural infrastructure investments.
• The Integrated Coastal and Ocean Observation System Act to strengthen monitoring of our ocean and coasts.