The Effects of Ocean Acidification on the Southern Ocean Marine Organisms and the Ecosystem
The Southern Ocean has changed slightly over the last thirty years (Constable, A.J, Melbourne-Thomas J, Corney S.P, et al. 2014). Modern society burn fossil fuels which cause a steady increase in carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. The carbon dioxide combines with seawater producing carbonic acid and causes seawater to become more acidic, a process known as ocean acidification (Cooley S, Mathis J, Yates K. 2013). Antarctic krill is one of many marine organisms affected by the ocean acidity changing. Pteropods, commonly known as sea butterflies, are a small shelled marine organism about the size of a pea, like krill they are a major food source for larger organisms, and the decreasing pH is causing their …show more content…
One third of all atmospheric carbon dioxide ends up in the ocean (Saba G.K, Schofield O, Trres J.J, et al. 2012). Today the increasing oceanic carbon dioxide is causing a small decrease in pH leading to a slightly more acidic ocean, which is slowly affecting the more polar marine organisms. Antarctic krill, (Euphausia superba) is one of the key organisms required to keep a balanced, stable ecosystem. They are resilient creatures and survive in a range of depths in Antarctic oceans. A study observed the effect of different carbon dioxide levels on fertilised Antarctic krill eggs. At the lower levels of carbon dioxide, such as 380µatm and 1000µatm there was hardly any change observed in the growth of the krill embryos. At 2000µatm there was almost no development in the embryos (Kawaguchi S, Kurihara H, et al. 2011). This raises the question of will Southern Ocean carbon dioxide ever reach that detrimental state to completely wipe out the krill population? Although it 's unlikely to reach such a high level this century, it 's not an issue to be ignored as the threshold is there and a krill depletion would have
The Southern Ocean has changed slightly over the last thirty years (Constable, A.J, Melbourne-Thomas J, Corney S.P, et al. 2014). Modern society burn fossil fuels which cause a steady increase in carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. The carbon dioxide combines with seawater producing carbonic acid and causes seawater to become more acidic, a process known as ocean acidification (Cooley S, Mathis J, Yates K. 2013). Antarctic krill is one of many marine organisms affected by the ocean acidity changing. Pteropods, commonly known as sea butterflies, are a small shelled marine organism about the size of a pea, like krill they are a major food source for larger organisms, and the decreasing pH is causing their …show more content…
One third of all atmospheric carbon dioxide ends up in the ocean (Saba G.K, Schofield O, Trres J.J, et al. 2012). Today the increasing oceanic carbon dioxide is causing a small decrease in pH leading to a slightly more acidic ocean, which is slowly affecting the more polar marine organisms. Antarctic krill, (Euphausia superba) is one of the key organisms required to keep a balanced, stable ecosystem. They are resilient creatures and survive in a range of depths in Antarctic oceans. A study observed the effect of different carbon dioxide levels on fertilised Antarctic krill eggs. At the lower levels of carbon dioxide, such as 380µatm and 1000µatm there was hardly any change observed in the growth of the krill embryos. At 2000µatm there was almost no development in the embryos (Kawaguchi S, Kurihara H, et al. 2011). This raises the question of will Southern Ocean carbon dioxide ever reach that detrimental state to completely wipe out the krill population? Although it 's unlikely to reach such a high level this century, it 's not an issue to be ignored as the threshold is there and a krill depletion would have