OCEAN acidification
Statement of purpose: Statement of Purpose
Our problem is how ocean acidification is affecting the oceans and the rest of the world. Ocean acidification is a term used to describe significant changes to the chemistry of the ocean. It occurs when carbon dioxide(CO2) is absorbed by the ocean. This is not good because the ocean provides the earth with most of its life. Most of the previous mass extinction events(there have been 5) can be directly attributed to ocean acidification. We are reaching high levels of this this that have not been seen in millions of years.
The plankton that live in the ocean provide the Earth with 50% of its oxygen. Because of ocean acidification they are not able to make strong enough skeletons. More and more are not able to survive. This affects all ocean life when they are developing. Now 40% of these plankton are missing.
Our Solution that our group speculated with hours of redesign and careful thinking a solution emerged, that solution is to introduce a Portuguese man o war type with phytoplankton organisms instead of the previous organisms. This could be a solution to ocean acidification by allowing a bigger mass of phytoplankton that produces extreme amounts of oxygen.
However If this solution may not contribute to the deacidification of the ocean perhaps another solution is needed. Selective breeding has mostly come to domestic animals, however selectively breeding phytoplankton to produce three times the amount of oxygen the plankton has produced in the past would definitely solve our problem.
Our problem is how ocean acidification is affecting the oceans and the rest of the world. Ocean acidification is a term used to describe significant changes to the chemistry of the ocean. It occurs when carbon dioxide(CO2) is absorbed by the ocean. This is not good because the ocean provides the earth with most of its life. Most of the previous mass extinction events(there have been 5) can be directly attributed to ocean acidification. We are reaching high levels of this this that have not been seen in millions of years.
The plankton that live in the ocean provide the Earth with 50% of its oxygen. Because of ocean acidification they are not able to make strong enough skeletons. More and more are not able to survive. This affects all ocean life when they are developing. Now 40% of these plankton are missing.
Our Solution that our group speculated with hours of redesign and careful thinking a solution emerged, that solution is to introduce a Portuguese man o war type with phytoplankton organisms instead of the previous organisms. This could be a solution to ocean acidification by allowing a bigger mass of phytoplankton that produces extreme amounts of oxygen.
However If this solution may not contribute to the deacidification of the ocean perhaps another solution is needed. Selective breeding has mostly come to domestic animals, however selectively breeding phytoplankton to produce three times the amount of oxygen the plankton has produced in the past would definitely solve our problem.
Citations:
http://www.pmel.noaa.gov/co2/story/Ocean+Acidification
http://ocean.si.edu/ocean-acidification
http://www.oceanconservancy.org/our-work/ocean-acidification/?referrer=https://www.google.com/
https://www.whoi.edu/page.do?pid=83380&tid=3622&cid=131410
http://www.annualreviews.org/eprint/QwPqRGcRzQM5ffhPjAdT/full/10.1146/annurev.marine.010908.163834?ref=driverlayer.com
http://www.pmel.noaa.gov/co2/story/Ocean+Acidification
http://ocean.si.edu/ocean-acidification
http://www.oceanconservancy.org/our-work/ocean-acidification/?referrer=https://www.google.com/
https://www.whoi.edu/page.do?pid=83380&tid=3622&cid=131410
http://www.annualreviews.org/eprint/QwPqRGcRzQM5ffhPjAdT/full/10.1146/annurev.marine.010908.163834?ref=driverlayer.com
REFLECTION
This lab had taught me just how hard it is coming up with the right solution to a world problem.