Today I am about to share a new information with the main topic of ocean acidification. Before trying to get to know deeper, let me inform you about the ocean acidification or also known as the acidification of the ocean. So acidification of the ocean means that the pH level or the acid level in the ocean is changing. Even though the changing is only a little but in fact these changing can affect the whole life in the ocean ecosystem because there are some marine living beings that is so sensitive about changing and can die because of it.
Because you know that the changing in the acid level can affect so many things, that will be better for you to know about the prevention of ocean acidification as well. Many of the factors that can cause the acidification is come from humans. People used to throw the garbage or agricultural runoff to the open ocean where it leads the changes in pH level. And in this article, I would like to discuss more about the social impacts of ocean acidification that I would like to share you with.
1. pH level changes
Acidification means that there is a changes to the acidity level. This will also means that the pH of ocean water will also be changed. These changes may lead to some serious impact since every kind of living beings has their own characteristic of habitat to live.
2. Coral bleaching
Causes of coral bleaching are a lot. One of it is the acidity level changes that may lead bleaching to coral. Basically, coral is animal that feed on phytoplakton and another small producer that live on it. So when the color of coral itself is turn out to be white sue to the bleaching, it means that the producer can’t live and supply the coral with food. Where in the end, the coral will also die.
3. Disease
Not only in the land but there are also some disease in the ocean that may lead death to the plants and even marine animals. These disease is caused by the existence of bacteria that feed on living organism. Somehow, acid can help humans to clean the ocean using good bacteria but too much acid can kill these bacteria and may cause a huge population of bad bacteria that used to cause disease.
4. Pollution
Another social impacts of ocean acidification is that it will surely cause ocean pollution. Basically, pollution is a condition where there is a substance or thing that can be harmful or poison the environment. Under this definition, acid can be categorized as pollution. Where it will polluting the ocean and threatening many living beings if the acidity level keep going down.
5. Erosion
Erosion or sea erosion means a movement of materials such as sand or rock from one place to another place. The movement of these material may cause a certain place to be not what it used to be. There are some changes there because of the material that is brought trough the erosion. Somehow, sea erosion may cause bad impact that may lead to destruction of ocean habitat.
6. Marine habitat destruction
Acid has a characteristic of corrosive. It means that acid can destroy almost everything. Even iron also can be rusty if it is exposed by acid. If acid can make iron to be rusty it also means that acid can destroy the habitat in the ocean.
Coral reef, anemone, kelp forest, and many more habitat can be destroyed by acid when the acidity level is too high. Even though the acidity level is not too high but if here is a changes of acidity level and this problem is not solved soon, the habitat in the ocean still can be destroyed slowly.
7. Threat to marine biodiversity
Some marine living beings can’t live in such an acid place. Each living creatures including animals and plants has their own ability to adapt to their habitat. You may see that there are a lot of fish species. The diversity that exist shown that each species has their own habitat, and you can’t switch their habitat simply because they are all a fish.
See also: Threats to Marine Biodiversity
8. Less food supply
One serious social impacts of ocean acidification from many impacts that can be happened is less food supply. We see that we as human need a certain characteristic to live. Such as we need oxygen, food, and water at least. Just like human, another animal or in this case is marine animals also need several characteristic to live.
When the acidification happens and changes the pH or another characteristic that is needed for marine animals to live it means their life is in danger. And if we do nothing about it, food supply for us such as fish, lobster, and etc will be less or even can’t fulfilling the market demand.
Not only that, there is also another factor that may cause the supply of fish declining due to the impact of overfishing in the ocean.
9. The increasing number of unemployment
When the acidification happens and many thing have changed it means that people who relying their life from the ocean can’t looking for some amount of money there. The fisherman can’t catch many fish or even no fish that they can get and this will lead these people into unemployment.
10. Less salt supply
Salt is one of many ingredients that we need that has an easy process to make. No wonder if you can find many salt farmer in the beach. But somehow since salt will be consumed by human of course there will be some standard such as checking to make sure that the salt is safe to be consumed.
If the acid level in the ocean water decreasing it means that there will be more procedure to process the salt where the farmer it self can’t do it. Or even the factory can do it, somehow it will take more time and money.
11. Declining number of minerals
Dark water surely will contain nothing unless dirt and bacteria. The acid level that is changing due to the acidification process may also erase the amount of mineral that is exist in the ocean water. Somehow, these mineral is absorb by plants and marine animals where when we eat them we can also get the mineral.
12. Less oxygen supply
Almost no plants can live in an acid water. This means when the ocean pH water level is going down to be more acid many ocean plants can die because it doesn’t have the ability to adapt with the acidity.
13. Temperature changes
Social impacts of ocean acidification that you can see is the existence of temperature changes. Remember that the ocean provides protection to UV light because the ocean plants supply oxygen? When the acidification happens, and many ocean plants die it means that they can’t supply oxygen anymore. Our earth will slowly feel hotter. Acidification became one from many causes of rising ocean temperatures.
14. Climate change
Less plants, less oxygen supply, less protection are some changes that we need to face when the acidification happens. These changes may lead into the climate of the ocean.
15. Further impact to the land
Last one for the social impacts of ocean acidification is the further impact to the land. Acid rain might happen, and cause drought because the rain contains acid. Soil became barren because of the acid came from the rain.
So those are some of the social impacts of ocean acidification that I can share you with. From now on, you can see that there are a lot of impacts that can be happened due to the ocean acidification and for sure it will not affect the social side only but also economic side and another side as well. Thank you for your concern towards the deep ocean ecosystems by keep reading our articles.
Hopefully, beside you have more knowledge on understanding the ocean ecosystem with its characteristic or factors that can affect the ecosystem, you can have more awareness towards any kind of ecosystem especially the ocean ecosystem.