From Placid to Acid: Ocean AcidificationBy Mickey and Octavia

Why This Topic? Many people don’t know what ocean

acidification is even though it might effect them

We were both shocked when we realized what was happening to many innocent victims and decided that we had to do something to teach people about it.

What is Sustainability? For something to be sustainable it has

to address the three pillars of sustainability:

Environment Economy Social Justiceo Ocean acidification is not sustainable

because it does not benefit any of these pillars.

What is Ocean Acidification? Ocean acidification is the process where oceans are

slowly becoming more acidic This happens because of continued carbon

emissions that are absorbed by the water This changes the chemical make-up of the ocean Ocean acidification is killing of many ecosystems

because they can not survive in acidic environments and dissolving coral.

It is both a danger to the economy, sea life, and people

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wo-bHt1bOsw

This is a pteropod; it is one of the many ocean creatures being affected.

Statistics The huge amounts of atmospheric CO2 being

absorbed by the world’s oceans is making them more acidic than they have been for tens of millions of years.

The biodiversity and splendor of coral reefs are at risk of disappearing for thousands of years. This places in jeopardy an estimated 500 million people who depend on coral reefs for their daily food and income

About 30–40% of the carbon dioxide released by humans into the atmosphere dissolves into the oceans, rivers and lakes

Environment Ocean acidification can kill many

phytoplankton These plankton are essential to the food

chain The death of phytoplankton can kill

many larger animals: this could throw off the entire food chain

Phytoplankton

Environment (cont.) The acid water has already bleached reefs.

Reefs are extremely important because they provide shelter for many small fish which are important to the food chain

The water is already on its way to dissolving the coral. The scientists estimate reefs will no longer exist is 2050.

Coral Reefs provide habitat for at least a quarter of all marine species. Many face extinction if reefs disappear.

Before and AfterBefore After This picture of

the coral reef before and after depicts the damaging effects of ocean acidification on reefs.

Economic Impact The Great Barrier Reef generates

somewhere around 63,000 jobs and around 5.3 billion dollars in tourist revenue.

Without these jobs and money, the economy will worsen with the oceans.

Social Justice  Small nations depend on seafood as a

source of food; they may face increased food insecurity because ocean acidification kills sea life that they eat 

  It is becoming extremely hard to find fish.

These fisherman don't have the equipment required to fish in colder, deeper, and more distant waters.

Action by Communities Alaska has placed a buoy in the ocean  The buoy collects various data

including carbon dioxide, salinity, temperature, and acidity

Impact After doing this project, we have realized how we

are hurting our own environment, economy, and other people. We are the only ones who can prevent this.

Please help us slow down ocean acidification by: Not idling(reduction of carbon emission) Sending a letter to your local congressperson

asking them to propose laws to cut carbon emissions

And most importantly…SPREADING AWARENESS!

Research In order to learn about ocean

acidification, we did a lot of research online.

This has helped us understand our issue, so we can teach people like you about its harmful effects, and what you can do to prevent it.

Action Plan Our Action plan is to spread as much awareness as

possible We have published an article in The Alcove. Our

results were that we have educated people about this issue.

If you have lost the article it is on: http://flyroad.org/?page_id=252

This presentation is meant to educate as many people as possible.

We hope you have become more aware of this issue and help us spread awareness so that we can put an end to ocean acidification and make CO2 producers more sustainable along the way, so we can protect our oceans.

Bibliography  "Ocean Acidification." Ocean Acidification. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 May

2013. <http://www.pmel.noaa.gov/co2/story/Ocean Acidification>. "Look More Deeply into the Facts." Ocean Acidification RSS. N.p., n.d.

Web. 01 May 2013. <http://oceanacidification.net/>. "Impacts of Ocean Acidification." Impacts of Ocean Acidification.

N.p., n.d. Web. 01 May 2013. <http://soundwaves.usgs.gov/2009/11/ "Impacts of Ocean Acidification." Impacts of Ocean Acidification.

N.p., n.d. Web. 01 May 2013. <http://soundwaves.usgs.gov/2009/11/>.

"Research Areas." Nsf.gov. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 May 2013. <http://www.nsf.gov/funding/pgm_summ.jsp?pims_id=503477>.

"New Science for an Emerging Threat:." :: SCRIPPS INSTITUTION OF OCEANOGRAPHY, UC SAN DIEGO : RESEARCH : OCEAN ACIDIFICATION :::. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 May 2013. <http://sio.ucsd.edu/Ocean_Acidification/>.