All throughout the world CO2 is being emitted, whether it is large factories or small cars, it is everywhere. Immense fossil fuel burning and deforestation over the last two centuries have increased atmospheric CO2 by 40% above preindustrial values, which is higher than any time in recorded history (Doney, 2009). This fact alone should be extremely worrying to many people as we breathe oxygen an over pollution of Co2 is detrimental to the land and air we breathe. Although it does not only affect what is on land, but it is affecting our oceans more than many people realize. Our oceans absorb a huge majority of the CO2 in the air, and by doing this it is acidifying the oceans causing a pH imbalance in the …show more content…
In the Galapagos a group of scientists were concerned how coral is reacting to high CO2 environments. This study is important because it helps to show the chemistry behind the coral and the make up of it in a high CO2 environment. According to Budd (2008), their study found that a low carbonate saturation state and trace abundances of cement are characteristics of reefs in CO2 areas. This can give an insight to their bio erosion rates and help prevent future erosion from occurring. Another study is looking into the anthropogenic CO2 changes in the interior Atlantic Ocean over a sixteen-year time span. Their finding found that the bottom waters saw systematic increases in CO2 over the years, which is an important finding because CO2 normally affects shallow waters first, so if it is affecting the deeper water it is becoming more concentrated and abundant in the area (Bullister, 2010). These studies are important because if scientists can understand exactly how CO2 is affecting the environment and how quickly it is happening it can help to prevent it or give a time frame of how long we have to cut back on CO2 …show more content…
Many fish that we consume for food will be directly or indirectly affected by acidification causing a lower yield in fish or even an extinction in some species. This would cause a major problem economically due to the fact that “the total ex-vessel or primary value of U.S. commercial harvests from U.S. waters and at-sea processing was nearly $4 billion in 2007 (Cooley, 2009).” This would cause major problems in trading and values across the world but it would also put millions of people out of jobs. Just as with the ocean, acidification would have a domino affect on land as well due to the reliance on the food that comes from fisheries and the jobs that are revolved around fishing or the ocean in general. In a worst case scenario the loss of these jobs could cause a collapse economically. For example there are some states that heavily rely on fishing for their income. New Bedford, MA brings in approximately 268 million per year with just fishing; a 25% loss from ocean acidification would decrease revenue by 67 million per year (Cooley, 2009). It is easy to see just how drastic these numbers can become as the oceans pH levels become more