Categorias: Todos - ecosystem - ocean - coral - co2

por Kendra Douglas 5 anos atrás

835

coral reefs

Rising carbon dioxide levels due to human activities like fossil fuel burning and industrial processes are drastically altering marine ecosystems. Increased CO2 in the atmosphere leads to higher ocean acidity as it reacts with seawater to form carbonic acid.

coral reefs

Major change to ecosystem

Removal of predators

Removal of Herbivores

Overfishing

Spillage from pipelines

Spillage from oil tankers

Oil Industry

Fertilizers & Pesticides

Agriculture

Chemical Pollution

Human Impact

Hydrosphere

Can take decades to go back to normal

Happens due to heat or pollution

Leave behind colourless skeleton

Algae released when coral get stressed

Provide food from photosynthesis

Live inside coral tissue

Colour comes from algae called Zooxanthellae

Caused by carbon pollution

1/3 of CO2 since Industrial Revolution is in the ocean

Rising from fossil fuels

CO2 levels higher than in the last 625 000 years

Provides food for about 500 million people worldwide

A quarter of all marine organisms

Rainforests of the Ocean

Coral Bleaching

Increasing Temperature

Less than 100 years

Severely Reduced Ecosystems

when atmospheric CO2 reaches 560mg/L

Organisms cannot make Calcium Carbonate Shells (Coral)

CO2 and sea water create Carbonic Acid

Reached by year 2100

Acidity beyond threshold

Man-made CO2 in atmosphere

Rising Ocean Acidity

Coral Reefs in Danger of Being Destroyed