THE SEVEN Cs - OCEAN AND CLIMATE CHANGE
 |
The Ocean's Role in Regulating Climate and
Climate Change's Impact on the Ocean
The ocean plays an important role in regulating the earth's climate, but its ability to do so is threatened by the impacts of climate change. The ocean's overall health and the survival of its ecosystems and inhabitants are also threatened.
Regulating Climate
The ocean helps regulate climate by absorbing heat and carbon dioxide that otherwise would contribute to increases in global greenhouse gas levels and temperatures. In the last 200 years, the ocean has absorbed 30% of all CO2 emissions from human activities. The ocean even holds 50 times more carbon than the atmosphere. Much like on land, photosynthesis in the ocean takes in CO2 and emits oxygen. Significantly, over 50% of the world's oxygen comes from the sea. The little miracle workers responsible for this phenomenon are phytoplankton. When shelled organisms die they also contribute to the sequestration of carbon dioxide by sinking to the bottom of the ocean where the carbon is stored for hundreds or thousands of years.
Climate Change's Impact on the Ocean
Climate Change not only threatens the ocean's inhabitants, but also its ability to help regulate the earth's climate. Many creatures cannot handle the temperature fluctuations caused by climate change. One of the most significant groups of organisms in this category is coral, which forms the base of many aquatic communities. More often than not, when one species is affected an entire ecosystem suffers the consequences. As the ocean absorbs more and more carbon dioxide that humans emit the ocean becomes more acidic. The ocean is naturally alkaline and the change in the pH level is especially detrimental to the all-important phytoplankton. The increased acidity lessens phytoplankton's ability to feed the food chain, produce oxygen, and sequester carbon dioxide. Rising acidity levels also make it difficult for organisms to build shells, which is problematic considering that shelled organisms help to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
The Ocean Project, P.O. Box 2506, Providence, RI 02906
All rights reserved. Copyright 2011 The Ocean Project
| | |
