Impacts of Ocean Acidification in the Arctic

Impacts of Ocean Acidification in the Arctic

The changes in the atmospheric composition and the overall evolution of man and the earth have seen the merging of the two tighter every time. Humans are as dependent on the environment as the environment is dependent on humans. The atmospheric state has gradually been on a decline in terms of stability and safety.  A lot of human activities seem to be destroying the natural balance on earth, resulting in detrimental atmospheric related calamities and losses. The relationship between the environmental systems and social systems has shifted for the worst due to global warming, which threatens extinction for humans and the destruction of the environment.

Atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) concentration has steadily been on the rise in the past few years, resulting in atmospheric warming. The high saturation of CO2 is a senior contributor to acidification in the world’s oceans. The primary victim of these devastating effects is the Arctic Ocean, where marine life faces challenges and consequences of our choices as humans (Cross et al., 2018). The phenomena occur when the top layer of the ocean mixes with atmospheric gases that are immediate in proximity in which, as it happens, the gasses from the atmosphere dissolve in the sea. With the increasing amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, there has been an increase in its dissolving in the ocean.

The formation of carbonic acid (H2CO3) from the mixture of carbon dioxide with ocean water leads to a decrease in the alkalinity and Ph, thus making the world’s oceans acidic. This process is referred to as ocean acidification and has numerous effects on marine life that are native to less acidic conditions in their aquatic environment with higher Ph. The acidification is a big problem in that the oceans take up 30% of the carbon dioxide generated by humans through emissions and industrial wastes.

Some organisms may become extinct due to not doing so well in acidic conditions that endanger the oceanic ecosystem. The metabolism of most of the aquatic life will get affected; thus, their ability to function on a day to day basis will have adverse effects. There will be an overall drop in species populations, which in turn reduces raw materials in terms of food for both fish and humans. Planktons get expected to do well in such conditions, and hypothetically will provide enough food for fish in the ecosystem (Hoppe et al., 2018). This change in effects gets considered positive, although little get known about the outcome of all fish as a result of ocean acidification.

Due to the sensitivity of the food web in the Arctic Ocean, a significant increase in the population of a species or the loss of one will have adverse ripple effects on the ecosystem. Some additional effects include melting ice, increased freshwater and warming, and stress on organisms and ecosystems. About the problem mentioned above, the best solution lies in limiting greenhouse emissions and limiting pollution from hydrocarbon extraction and shipping in the Arctic Ocean (Mathis et al., 2016). The practices above often produce acidic sulfur compounds that add acidity to the ocean. The finding of renewable energy sources is the best solution at hand.

References

Hoppe, C. J. M., Wolf, K. K., Schuback, N., Tortell, P. D., & Rost, B. (2018). Compensation of ocean acidification effects in Arctic phytoplankton assemblages. Nature Climate Change, 8(6), 529-533.

Cross, J. N., Mathis, J. T., Pickart, R. S., & Bates, N. R. (2018). Ocean acidification in the Pacific Arctic Region: Attribution and impacts. AGUFM, 2018, GC21F-1168.

Mathis, J. T., Baskin, M., & Cross, J. (2016, December). Using an Environmental Intelligence Framework to Evaluate the Impacts of Ocean Acidification in the Arctic. In AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts.