The Harmful Effects of Ocean Acidification (by Dylan Escobar)
In the last 200 years, the world’s oceans have accumulated over 150 billion metric tons of carbon from humans bad habits. Currently, that’s a worldwide average of 15 pounds per person a week, enough to fill a coal train long enough to encircle the equator 13 times every year.
Though we can’t see the massive amount of carbon dioxide that’s being pumped into our oceans, it dissolves as carbonic acid, changing the water’s chemistry faster than the earth has seen for millions of years. This increase in CO2 makes it difficult for shellfish, corals and other marine organisms to grow, reproduce and build their shells and skeletons.
About 10 years ago, ocean acidification nearly collapsed the annual $117 million West Coast shellfish industry, which supporting more than 3,000 jobs. Ocean currents pushed acidified water into coastal areas, making it difficult for baby oysters to use their limited energy to build protective shells. In effect, the crop was nearly destroyed.
Human health, too, is a major concern. In the laboratory, many harmful algal species produce more toxins and bloom faster in acidified waters. A similar response in the wild could harm people eating contaminated shellfish and sicken, even kill, fish and marine mammals such as sea lions (Spinrad and Boyd, 2015)
Source: (http://mediad.publicbroadcasting.net/p/nwpr/files/styles/medium/public/201302/oyster_med.jpg)
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