User:Sbonni/sandbox

User:Sbonni/sandbox

Impact on human industry
The threat of acidification to humans includes a decline in commercial fisheries, and the Arctic tourism industry and economy. Commercial fisheries are threatened because acidification negatively impact calcifying organisms and they form the base of the arctic food webs. Pteropods and Sea Stars both form the base of the arctic food webs and are both seriously damaged from acidification. Pteropods shells dissolve with increasing acidification and the brittle stars lose muscle mass when re-growing appendages. For pteropods to create shells they require argonite which is produced through carbonate ions and dissolved calcium. Pteropods are severely effected because increasing acidification levels has steadily deceased the amount of water supersaturated with carbonate which is needed for Argonite creation. Arctic waters are changing so rapidly that they will become undersaturated with argonite as early as 2016. Additionally the brittle star's eggs die within a few days when exposed to expected conditions resulting from arctic acidification. Acidification threatens to destroy Arctic food webs from the base up. Arctic food webs are considered simple, meaning there are few steps in the food chain from small organisms to larger predators. For example pteropods are “a key prey item of a number of higher predators - larger plankton, fish, seabirds, whales" Both pteropods and sea stars serve as a substantial food source and their removal from the simple food web would pose a serious threat to the whole ecosystem. The effects on the calcifying organisms at the base of the food webs could potentially destroy fisheries. The value of fish caught from US commercial fisheries in 2007 was valued at $3.8 billion and of that 73% was derived from calcifiers and their direct predators. Other organisms are directly harmed as a result of acidification. For example decrease in the growth of marine calcifiers such as the American Lobster, Ocean Quahog, and scallops means there is less shellfish meat available for sale and consumption. Red king crab fisheries are also at a serious threat because crabs are calcifiers and rely on carbonate ions for shell development. Baby red king crab when exposed to increased acidification levels experienced 100% morality after 95 days. In 2006 Red King Cab accounted for 23% of the total guideline harvest levels and a serious decline in red crab population would threaten the crab harvesting industry.

Impact on indigenous peoples
The impact of acidification on humans is not limited to decreases in commercial fisheries but also has the potential to decrease the Arctic tourism economy and potentially their way of life. A major pillar of Arctic tourism is the sport fishing and hunting industry. The sport fishing industry is threatened by collapsing food webs which provide food for the prized fish. A decline in tourism lowers revenue input in the area and threatens the economies that are increasingly dependent on tourism. Acidification is not merely a threat but has significantly declined whole fish populations. For example, In Scandinavia studies conducted on acidic water revealed that 15% of species populations had disappeared and that many more populations were limited in numbers or declining. The rapid decrease or disappearance of marine life could also indirectly effect the diet of Indigenous peoples.