The acidity of the Pacific Ocean and Dungeness Crab Impact

The acidity of the Pacific Ocean and Dungeness Crab Impact

Environmental changes around the world are having detrimental effects on the environment, both terrestrial and seas environment. Developing approaches to help control these adverse outcomes present a more diverse focus on environmentally friendly techniques. Pacific ocean has been influenced significantly by environmental changes leading to unique adaptation. The level of acidity in the pacific ocean has been increasing significantly (Marshall et al., 2017). The high-level acidification is dissolving the shells of Dungeness crabs. The lower PH  of the pacific ocean is having a more considerable influence on the young Dungeness crab shells, which are corroding. He increasing acid levels is caused by the rising levels of carbon dioxide. This can be explained based on the fact that the oceans absorb higher levels of carbon dioxide, which is being released into the atmosphere from different sources.

Global warming is a serious environmental concern in recent years, primarily due to the significant emission of greenhouse gases that are disadvantageous to the positive ecological focus. Fossil fuel utilization has been a substantial cause of increasing global warming within a global focus. Therefore, it is crucial to identify concepts, which highlight the need to understand global warming and its effects. Controlling the impact of global warming is vital to the positive well-being of the future generation that needs to be protected (Trenberth et al., 2014).

Deforestation has been a significant issue leading to increased global warming. The increasing human population means that there is a need to expand areas for settlement and other activities. Thus these measures are being done with the environment wellbeing being sacrificed. The industrial emissions have been integral to the in case of global warming, considering the increasing emissions from many industries across the globe (Le Quéré et al. (2016). Industries are leading in both water and air pollution, especially considering that they have been unable to integrate environmentally-friendly measures, which can help in improving the fight against global warming. Industries have a chance to incorporate improved technology, which is essential in dealing with increased global warming. Still, many companies have chosen against embracing these environment-friendly measures due to increased costs of operations (Logan, 2010).

Carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases have played a significant role in creating the current mess being experienced. Methane is emitted from diverse sources such as cattle, landfills, natural gas, petroleum systems as well as industrial waste processes. Thus, it is very difficult to control the release of methane into the surface. The concentration of carbon dioxide available in the atmosphere presently is much higher than at any particular point in the past 800,000 years. The United States presumably emit approximately six billion tons of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere each year, and of these, forty percent comes from the power plant emissions only. These greater emissions into the atmosphere result in various effects (Reum et al., 2015).

It understands why global warming is a global issue that is dependent on the critical evaluation of the underlying factors that cause global warming. Global warming includes different environmental problems. Global warming is the rising surface temperature that creates a challenging environment for better development within the ecosystem. The causes of global warming can be explained based on natural and human influences. Natural causes of global warming are described by the changes in the rotation of the sun around the earth, while social impacts based on human activities (Ranson, 2014).

The marine life is dependent on each other for development. This means that any disruption to the ecosystem results in a severe deficit that endangers other lives.  The cash crabs live in the coastal waters, where the increasing rate of acidity has highly influenced them. The Dungeness crab is an essential component to the fisheries in the Pacific Northeast though the current low PH levels are leading to the dissolving of part of its shell (Marshall et al., 2016). The resulting damage has been associated with damage to the sensory organs.  These injuries could have a detrimental influence on the future of the coastal economies who majorly focus on sea life for livelihood. A major challenge under consideration has been the consideration that the acid was not predicted to have such a faster impact on the Dungeness crab survival.

Solutions

Thus understanding the influence of the acid on the crab highlights that the ocean food chain has already been disturbed, which provides the need to develop appropriate measures that can help cushion the situation with better interventions that help promote improved marine life. Different approaches are being developed to assist in controlling the current state for an improved understanding on the need to ensure that the marine life is not destabilized which could lead to challenges in marine life as well as the lives of fishermen who depend on the ocean life (Chan et al., 2019).

The federal government has been effectively engaged in the development of strategies to help in creating a more magnificent structure for improved marine life. The legislations have helped create improved awareness on how human actions and activities are contributing to the current increasing acid in the pacific ocean. The Federal Ocean Acidification Research And Monitoring Act (FOARAM). The act defines ocean acidification as a decrease in the PH of the oceans as a result of chemical inputs, which are attributed to human activities (Busch & McElhany, 2016). The act provides focus on the development of essential guidelines that help in presenting different task forces that can help in improving oceanic life through limited wastes and carbon dioxide emissions into the environment. The act has also focused on creating a strong environment for the development of ocean-based research programs that can help in developing a mechanism to control acidification and protect the oceanic life (NOAA, 2017)

The Interagency ocean policy Taskforce has been given the mandate to assist in implementing key strategies that can help in promoting a better focus on marine life. The Taskforce was established by President Obama, who sought to enforce policies that promoted better environmental strategies. It was tasked with protection, maintenance as well as restoration of the oceans, Great Lakes, and the coasts (NOA, 2016). Humans remain the primary threat to the performance of the task force, considering that it is difficult to control human actions, especially when assessing the existing global emissions.  Therefore ensuring that all environmental agencies remain committed to implementing environmentally-friendly strategies is essential in improving the level of performance and development. The overall commitment to change present a well-defined system which has been crucial in promoting improved behavior.

Every individual has a mandate in ensuring that they implement better measures that focus on preserving the natural environment. This would be important in controlling the harmful emissions into the ocean, which have been detrimental to positive level engagement within the society. The federal government has a vital mandate to ensure the development of laws that focus on protecting marine life. This can only be achieved when the level of carbon dioxide emissions into the environment is controlled.

References

Busch, D. S., & McElhany, P. (2016). Estimates of the direct effect of seawater pH on the survival rate of species groups in the California Current ecosystem. PloS one, 11(8).

Chan, F., Barth, J. A., Kroeker, K. J., Lubchenco, J., & Menge, B. A. (2019). The dynamics and impact of ocean acidification and hypoxia. Oceanography, 32(3), 62-71.

Le Quéré, C, Andrew RM, and et al. (2016). Global Carbon Budget 2016, Earth System Science Data.

Logan CA. (2010).  A Review of Ocean Acidification and America’s Response, BioScience, Volume 60, Issue 10, Pages 819–828.

Marshall, K. N., Kaplan, I. C., Hodgson, E. E., Hermann, A., Busch, D. S., McElhany, P., … & Fulton, E. A. (2017). Risks of ocean acidification in the California Current food web and fisheries: ecosystem model projections. Global Change Biology, 23(4), 1525-1539.

Marshall, K.N., Kaplan, I.C., Hodgson, E.E., Hermann, A.J., Busch, D.S., McElhany, P., Essington, T.E., Harvey, C.J., and Fulton, E.A. (2017). Risks of ocean acidification in the California Current food web and fisheries: ecosystem model projections. Glob. Change Biol.

Miller, J. J., Maher, M., Bohaboy, E., Friedman, C. S., & McElhany, P. (2016). Exposure to low pH reduces survival and delays development in the early life stages of Dungeness crab (Cancer magister). Marine Biology, 163(5), 118.

NOA. (2016). Ocean acidification puts Northwest Dungeness crab at risk, research finds  https://www.nwfsc.noaa.gov/news/features/ocean_acidification_dungeness_crab/DCinfographicthumb.jpg

NOAA, (2017)  https://sanctuaries.noaa.gov/education/crab-toolkit.html

Reum, J. C., Ferriss, B. E., McDonald, P. S., Farrell, D. M., Harvey, C. J., Klinger, T., & Levin, P. S. (2015). Evaluating community impacts of ocean acidification using qualitative network models. Marine Ecology Progress Series, 536, 11-24.