Posted: March 30th, 2022

How Does Ocean Acidification Affect Marine Life

Physics and Natural Sciences
Topic:
Ocean acidification and the effect is has on marine life

How Does Ocean Acidification Affect Marine Life
Introduction
Issue
The research selected for the project is on ocean acidification and how it affects marine life. Although the ocean covers an approximate of 70% of the Earth’s planet, it remains endangered from the amount of destruction exposed to human activities. The ocean hosts many kinds of species, most of which are not facing extinction as the rate of acidification on the ocean continues to increase. Therefore, the research’s main issue is to identify how ocean acidification on maritime life as a result of the increased amount of chemicals being taken by the ocean from the Earth.
Specific Question
What are the effects of ocean acidification on marine life and the ecosystem that supports them, and the measures that can be implemented to make the ocean healthier for marine life?
Science Resources
1. The first source title is “How Does the Sexual Reproduction of Marine Life Respond to Ocean Acidification?” The source provides research regarding the effects of ocean acidification on coral reef systems and their supporting ecosystem. The source is related to the research topic as it provides scientific reasoning behind the ocean acidification threats facing coral reefs.
2. The second source title is “Chasing the Future: How Will Ocean Change Affect Marine Life?” The source is considered essential for the research topic. It provides various scientific reasoning towards the understanding of possible consequences of increased ocean carbon levels by studying various marine lives. The source also identifies some of the measures that have been implemented in the effort of controlling the increasing ocean carbon levels. The source is also credible as it comes from the Oceanography Society journal, which is peer-reviewed.
3. The third source title is “The Dynamics and Impact of Ocean Acidification and Hypoxia: Insights from Sustained Investigations in the Northern California Current Large Marine Ecosystem.” The source was also obtained from the journal of the Oceanography Society. It studies ocean acidification and hypoxia (OAH) on marine species, their ecosystem, and ecological communities and fisheries.
Body
Audience
The research study audiences include the ocean research community, marine resource management, and environment management, with the marine resource management being the most beneficiaries of the research and the most capable of helping in addressing the issue (Barry et al., 2017).
Message
Since the target audience is composed of experts in various management fields, including marine and environment, the research findings will be provided using both scientific terminology and principles and explanations. The study’s presentation to the audience can be conducted through various communication sources, including video conferencing and written documents, emailed to the audience.
Identify Principle(s)
The increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) results in a long-term decrease in seawater pH, causing ocean acidification. The change of ocean chemistry is also considered to be driven by other chemical inputs in the atmosphere, such as nitrogen and sulfur compounds that have to be consumed by the ocean (Guinottea, & Fabry, 2008).
Explain Principle(s)
Ocean acidification effects on marine life and its ecosystem start with climate change, which is highly caused by human activities. The formation of ocean acidification occurs due to an anthropogenic increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide, decreasing the seawater pH. The approximate absorption of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere by the ocean is 30%, added from various activities conducted by humans, such as burning fossil fuel, deforestation, and manufacturing (Kibria, 2015). When the carbon dioxide dissolves in seawater, it forms carbon acid (H2CO3), resulting in hydrogen ion concentration to increase, hence decreasing the ocean pH (Olischläger & Wild, 2020). The principles provided here play a vital role in the research as they create the foundation on which ocean acidification affects marine life.
Conclusion
Hypothesis
The research hypothesis is based on the findings of how an anthropogenic increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide decreases the water pH resulting in the formation of ocean acidification that affects marine life. When the carbon dioxide dissolves in seawater, it forms carbon acid (H2CO3), resulting in hydrogen ion concentration to increase, hence decreasing the ocean pH (Olischläger & Wild, 2020). Therefore, the studies used to formulate the hypothesis not only provide the several impacts that ocean acidification cause to marine life and its ecosystem but also the scientific methods that can be used to understand those effects and how to manage them.
Natural Scientist
To evaluate and determine the effect of ocean acidification on marine life, there are various methods that can be applied by a natural scientist to understand how marine life might be affected and how they might cope up with a high concentration of ocean acidification and in a high-CO2 ocean. The hypothesis can be researched using the deep-sea CO2 injection studies, including the system, to transport and release CO2 at a depth of the sea. The study aims at determining how deep-sea marine animals respond to changes in pH (Chan et al., 2019). The experiment requires the release of 20-100 liters CO2 liquid into the PVC rings installed over 3,000 meters of sea depth. The survival of species inhabiting the sediment within a distance of 100 meters from the pools contains a high concentration of CO2 is measured to determine the impact of high-CO2 on their life.
Another experiment that can be conducted by a natural scientist to determine the effect of ocean acidification on marine life through the use of a hyperbaric fish trap respirometer which is an in situ respirometer system that measures oxygen consumption in marine life which determines their metabolic rate and energy consumption. The use of situ in deep-sea will determine the rates of active deep-sea fishes, and they respond to level changes of CO2 and O2. To conduct the experiment, the hyperbaric fish trap is deployed at more than 4,000 meters in the sea to capture deep-sea fishes and studies in the laboratory within the conditions of their capture, including pressure, oxygen, and temperature (Barry et al., 2017). Another in situ respirometer method than can be used in the study is the benthic respiration system. The system has the ability to measure oxygen consumption of a wider array of deep-sea species under ambient or experimental conditions. The benthic respirometer contains eight metabolic chambers that allow simultaneous measurement of oxygen consumption rates of fishes and benthic macro-invertebrates at a single deployment. The injection of O2 or pH is into the chambers is conducted through pumps in a modified way to study the species’ oxygen consumption rates.
Free Ocean CO2 Enrichment (FOCE) system can be used by a natural scientist in studying the research hypothesis. The FOCE system provides the opportunity to study marine species when exposed to high CO2 levels by measuring the response of species. The system has partially open mesocosms with a flume that is used for controlling and directing the ambient or CO2-enriched seawater flowing through the mesocosms (Barry et al., 2017). The species enclosed in the mesocosms are exposed to natural conditions, including normal water flow, light, plankton, water quality, and interactions. The controlled injection of CO2, oxygen, and the temperature are used to regulate the water pH that is adjusted to study the species under ocean acidification conditions.
References
Barry, J., Graves, D., Kecy, C., Lovera, C., Okuda, C., Boch, C., & Lord, J. (2017). Chasing the Future How Will Ocean Change Affect Marine Life? Oceanography, 30(4), 60-71. doi: 10.5670/oceanog.2017.424
Chan, F., Barth, J. A., Kroeker, K. J., Lubchenco, J., & Menge, B. A. (2019). The Dynamics and Impact of Ocean Acidification and Hypoxia: Insights from Sustained Investigations in the Northern California Current Large Marine Ecosystem. Oceanography, 32(3), 62–71. https://doi-org.ezproxy.snhu.edu/10.5670/oceanog.2019.312
Guinottea, J., & Fabry, V. (2008). Ocean Acidification and Its Potential Effects on Marine Ecosystems. New York Academy of Sciences. doi: 10.1196/annals.1439.013
Kibria, G. (2015). Ocean Acidification and Its Impact on Marine Biodiversity, Seafood Security & Livelihoods- A Short Review. Research Gate. Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Golam_Kibria7.24 September 2015. 7p.
Olischläger, M., & Wild, C. (2020). How Does the Sexual Reproduction of Marine Life Respond to Ocean Acidification? Diversity, 12(6), 241. https://doi-org.ezproxy.snhu.edu/10.3390/d12060241

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