User:Zfajri/Effects of climate change on oceans

Global climate change has long lasting effects on every part of our biosphere. Specifically, oceans have been increasing in temperature at a rate of 1.5° F per year since 1901. This causes a multitude of negative effects. The first being that because the temperature of the water is rising, it causes each water molecule to expand, increasing the ocean levels by 33%. Another reason for this expansion is that the warm weather is causing ice caps to melt. The second effect is increasing ocean acidification. Because there is more carbon dioxide present in the atmosphere, more CO2 is being dissolved into the ocean. This is because Coccolithophores, a kind of plankton, make tons of CaCO3 (calcium carbonate). This compound, when combined with water and CO2 makes H2CO3 (carbonic acid), causing increasing acidification of the ocean. This acidity is harmful to marine life such as crustaceans and coral reefs because is causes their outer shells to dissolve at a faster rate. Finally, the salt concentration within the ocean is decreased. When ice caps melts, it adds fresh water into the ocean. This is a problem because the level of salt in the ocean controls the oceans currents, which therefore affects the weather in certain parts of the earth.

Three Main Effects
Global climate change has long lasting effects on every part of our biosphere. Specifically, oceans have been increasing in temperature at a rate of 1.5° F per year since 1901. This causes a multitude of negative effects. The first being that because the temperature of the water is rising, it causes each water molecule to expand, increasing the ocean levels by 33%[1 ]. Another reason for this expansion is that the warm weather is causing ice caps to melt. The second effect is increasing ocean acidification. Because there is more carbon dioxide present in the atmosphere, more CO2 is being dissolved into the ocean[2 ]. This is because Coccolithophores, a kind of plankton, make tons of CaCO3 (calcium carbonate). This compound, when combined with water and CO2 makes H2CO3 (carbonic acid), causing increasing acidification of the ocean[3 ]. This acidity is harmful to marine life such as crustaceans and coral reefs because is causes their outer shells to dissolve at a faster rate[4 ]. Finally, the salt concentration within the ocean is decreased. When ice caps melts, it adds fresh water into the ocean. This is a problem because the level of salt in the ocean controls the oceans currents, which therefore affects the weather in certain parts of the earth[5 ].