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Burning of Fossil Fuels
Humans create the most emissions of carbon dioxide when they burn fossil fuels. Burning fossil fuels creates more green house gases, which contribute to the green house effect. The greenhouse gases, like carbon dioxide, trap more heat into the atmostphere, which causes the earth to get warmer. -
Introduction
The abiotic factors in the ocean trends are calcifiers, pH, carbon dioxide, and the ocean. All of these things affect the ocean in some sort of way. The way they react with each other determines the trends in the ocean. -
Increased Carbon Dioxide
Since more fossil fuels are being burned, that means that there is more carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. The more carbon dioxide there is, the more heat gets trapped in the atmosphere. If there is too much carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, then less heat gets trapped. Since there has been increased amounts of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, it has caused global warming. -
Dissolved Carbon Dioxide
When the carbon dioxide dissolves into the ocean, it causes the ocean to become more acidic. Carbon dioxide reacts with the ocean and creates carbonic acid. Then the carbonic acid breaks down and releases more hydrogen atoms. This makes the ocean more acidic. -
Effect on Calcifiers
When carbon dioxide dissolves it creates carbonic acid. When the carbonic acid breaks down, it creates bicarbonate, which breaks down into carbonate. Calcifiers need calcium carbonate to make their shells. When carbon dioxide breaks down, carbonic acid doesn't let calcium carbonate form. This causes less shells and corals to be formed and die. -
Summary
Just like coyotes in the city, if one thing becomes off balance in an ecosystem, it affects the whole ecosystem. If there is too much carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, it causes the ocean to become more acidic. In coyotes in the city, if there are too many houses and humans around, then the coyotes won't have a habit and their population will decrease.
