Ocean acidification, driven primarily by excess atmospheric carbon dioxide dissolving into seawater, results in lowering ocean pH and poses a significant threat to marine life beyond the well-known coral bleaching.

Oceans have absorbed 20-30% of human-made CO2 emissions since the 1980s, leading to a 26% increase in acidity since pre-industrial times, with projections suggesting a rise of 100-150% by century’s end, severely impacting marine ecosystems .

Marine organisms that rely on calcium carbonate for shells and skeletons, including microscopic plankton, mollusks like clams, oysters, and crustaceans such as crabs and lobsters, face increased challenges in calcification and survival due to acidification .

These effects cascade through the food web, affecting fish physiology, behavior, and population dynamics, ultimately threatening food security for billions.

Cephalopods, including cuttlefish and octopuses—important to your school mascot—are also severely affected.

Although their shells differ from bivalves’, ocean acidification can impair embryonic development, cause physical abnormalities, and affect behaviors like camouflage and hunting, critical for survival.

Research into adaptation potential is ongoing, with some species showing signs of resilience linked to genetic evolution and regulation of ion transport in acidified waters, but many populations remain vulnerable .

Marine mammals, such as polar bears and seals dependent on Arctic ice, confront habitat loss as warming and acidification alter ecosystem dynamics and prey availability.

Vegetated habitats like mangroves, seagrasses, and marshes—key carbon sinks—are at risk of decline, reducing their capacity to mitigate climate change and support biodiversity .

Ocean acidification also disrupts plankton communities fundamental to marine food webs.

Zooplankton copepods exhibit physiological stress with acidification combined with warming, affecting growth and reproduction, impacting entire Arctic food chains .

Shrimp species exposed to warming and acidification show reduced larval survival and developmental difficulties, indicating possible population collapses in affected waters .

Furthermore, increasing ocean acidification leads to the rise of expanding hypoxic “dead zones” where oxygen depletion makes marine life survival impossible, exacerbating biodiversity loss .

Collective action is essential to address these challenges: raising awareness, reducing CO2 emissions drastically within the next decade, protecting marine habitats from overfishing and pollution, and establishing marine protected areas with policy support can help mitigate ongoing damage .

Simple lifestyle changes like reducing plastic use, responsible seafood consumption, and participating in local coastal clean-ups can engage youth and communities in ocean protection efforts .

In summary, ocean acidification severely impacts diverse marine life including shelled organisms (mollusks, crustaceans), cephalopods (cuttlefish, octopuses), fish, plankton, and marine mammals by disrupting calcification, development, behavior, and ecosystem structure.

The combined effects with warming further exacerbate risks.

Awareness and action are critical to protecting ocean health and the dependent livelihoods now and into the future.

This information can be valuable for your club’s posters and pamphlets to highlight the hidden but urgent threats ocean acidification poses to marine biodiversity and human well-being .

Ocean acidification, driven primarily by excess atmospheric carbon dioxide dissolving into seawater, results in lowering ocean pH and poses a significant threat to marine life beyond the well-known coral bleaching.

Title:

Content: Carbon Dioxide Makes Ocean Acidification Study Suggests Rapid Evolution Could Make Fish Easier to Deal With
March 03, 2022 17: 00
Eastern Network Television
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Some fish can evolve rapidly to cope with ocean acidification.
(courtesy of Shutterstock)
In addition to causing climate warming, global emissions of large amounts of carbon dioxide will also cause sea water to become acidic, and marine life may be affected.
The study found that volcanic infiltration of high CO2 partial pressure, that is, high concentrations of CO2 dissolved in water, changes in the genetic transcription of fish, predict the response of wild fish to the continuous acidification of the marine environment.
The results show that some fish with faster rates of evolution may be more flexible in coping with ocean acidification, maintaining population size and diversity. One species of fish may be able to acidify the marine environment with its rapid evolution of gene molecular transcription regulation, but the population size and diversity of fish with slower rates of evolution are difficult to maintain in acidified environments.
As carbon dioxide emissions from human activities increase year by year, and the CO2 absorbed by the ocean continues to rise, causing the pH of seawater to decline and become acidic, scientists expect “ocean acidification ” on the surface of the world ’ s oceans, which may affect the physiology, growth and survival of some fish, and change some key behaviors that affect survival chances.
A team led by Celia SCHUNTER from the Faculty of Biosciences of the University of Hong Kong and the Swire Institute of Marine Science, along with foreign researchers, travelled to Papua New Guinea, the Pacific island nation, to extract the brains of six species of coral fish, including five species of finch and one species of celestial bream, from a carbon dioxide spill at the bottom of a volcano and about 500 m nearby coral reef. The organization conducts gene transcription group sequencing to understand the changes in fish gene transcription in the ocean acidification environment.
The results show that high CO2 partial pressure can cause transcription changes in genes related to circadian clock and immune function in several species, demonstrating that fish function is important in coping with acidifying environments, and that the core genes of circadian rhythms determine the 24-hour cycle of most species.
Immune-related regulation has been found in many species of fish in acidified environments, so regulation of the immune response may also be an important response to acidification, especially in nocturnal fish, which exhibit a greater proportion of immune regulation and are modulated in the opposite direction to diurnal fish.
In contrast to the fish body ’ s ability to regulate the pH value of the cells, the researchers found that the brain of the spinosus is used to maintain a large number of changes in potassium, sodium, chlorine and calcium ions that transmit signals in the carbon dioxide ooze. Corresponding changes are needed to cope with the acidification environment, but differences in the expression of related genes disappear when stress is reduced, and genes return to normal levels of expression.
Further research by the team found that this finch has evolved significantly faster than other fish over the past 15 million years, potentially giving it greater potential to adapt to environmental changes.
It is speculated that this species may have evolved molecular mechanisms to cope with future ocean acidification.

How do scientists expect ocean acidification to impact specific fish species?

How does elevated water acidity affect fish ability to survive?

What factors lead to damage of coral reefs?

What is the main cause of ocean acidification?

water absorbs carbon dioxide from the atmosphere

Oceans have absorbed 20-30% of human-made CO2 emissions since the 1980s, leading to a 26% increase in acidity since pre-industrial times, with projections suggesting a rise of 100-150% by century’s end, severely impacting marine ecosystems .

Title:

Content: Sun. Nov 20th, 2022

This is a small proportion in view of conservatively projected $step one

Because the within , more than twenty four mil km2, or 17 %, off seas around national legislation (to two hundred nautical kilometers of shore) have been included in safe areas, over doubling in the the quantity since 2010

On average, one.dos percent regarding federal search finances are spent on water research between 2013 and you can 2017, having amounts anywhere between 0.02 per cent so you’re able to nine.5 %. 5 trillion contribution of the ocean towards the all over the world economy inside 2010.

Of a lot Says enjoys ratified or acceded into United nations Meeting on feeld review Rules of your Ocean (168 events) as well as using plans (150 people toward Agreement regarding the utilization of Area XI of your Us Seminar on the Rules of one’s Water and 91 functions towards United nations Fish Stocks Arrangement). Numerous Claims features followed these products thanks to court, policy and you may institutional buildings, but further advances becomes necessary in a number of developing places, particularly the least set up regions.

Waters and you can fisheries went on to help with the global population’s monetary, public and you can environment means whenever you are distress unsustainable exhaustion, environment destruction and you may carbon dioxide saturation and you may acidification. Current jobs to guard trick marine surroundings and you can quick-measure fishers and you may buy sea technology commonly yet , fulfilling the new immediate need to include that it huge, sensitive capital.

The ocean assimilates up to 23 % of your own yearly pollutants from anthropogenic carbon dioxide toward surroundings, helping to alleviate the impacts regarding weather change on the planet, although not, ultimately causing a bringing down pH and you can acidification of one’s water. A separate water acidification analysis portal suggests an increase in variability into the pH plus the acidity of one’s waters of the 10 to 31 per cent in the period 2015–2019.

The brand new sustainability off globally fishery info continues to decline, regardless if at the a diminished rates, with the ratio regarding fish stocks within biologically alternative account from the 65.8 % when you look at the 2017, down out of 90 per cent when you look at the 1974 and you may 0.8 fee area less than 2015 profile.

The new expansion away from protected elements having marine biodiversity and you can established rules and you may treaties that prompt in control entry to ocean resources are still insufficient to fight new undesireable effects regarding overfishing, increasing ocean acidification due to weather changes and you may worsening seaside eutrophication

Because the within , how many parties to the Arrangement towards Port State Procedures to get rid of, Deter and you can Eliminate Unlawful, Unreported and Unregulated Fishing – the original joining in the world agreement you to particularly needs illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing – risen to 66 (like the Eu) away from 58 in the earlier year, and you will nearly 70 % out of nations stated rating at the top of the fresh implementation thereof.

The share of alternative marine grab fisheries remained steady at around the globe height, with regional adaptation, representing the biggest contribution with the GDP within the Pacific brief isle development States and you will the very least build countries, averaging 1.55 and 1.15 percent, correspondingly, in 2011 to help you 2017.

Once the vast amounts of somebody count on oceans due to their livelihood and you may dinner source as well as on the fresh new transboundary characteristics regarding waters, improved jobs and you can interventions are needed to cut and you can sustainably have fun with water information at all profile.

  • Water acidification is caused by new consumption off atmospheric Carbon-dioxide of the the sea, and this change this new chemical substances constitution of one’s seawater. Long-label observations from ocean acidification for the past thirty years has found the typical increase from acidity regarding 26 per cent given that pre-commercial times, and also at which rates, a rise off a hundred to help you 150 % try predicted from the the termination of the newest century, having really serious effects to possess marine life.
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What factors lead to damage of coral reefs?

What is the main cause of ocean acidification?

water absorbs carbon dioxide from the atmosphere

Marine organisms that rely on calcium carbonate for shells and skeletons, including microscopic plankton, mollusks like clams, oysters, and crustaceans such as crabs and lobsters, face increased challenges in calcification and survival due to acidification .

Title:

Content: There were 1,862 press releases posted in the last 24 hours and 393,697 in the last 365 days.

Utilizing biogeochemical and genetic tools to understand and support clam populations in a changing ocean

Marine bivalves are at risk due to anthropogenic climate change. This poses a threat to commercial aquaculture, and the communities that depend on bivalves for food security. Ocean acidification, the lowering of seawater pH, is of particular concern for marine calcifiers, including bivalves. Ocean acidification occurs as carbon dioxide enters the atmosphere at a rate faster than natural geologic processes can buffer. It is energetically costly for marine calcifiers like clams, mussels, and oysters, to mineralize under acidic conditions, and low pH leads to the dissolution of calcium carbonate shells and skeletons. This problem warrants research on acidification adaptation strategies that will keep coastal populations healthy. Adding calcium carbonate shell hash to coastal sediments may mitigate negative effects of acidification on infaunal shellfish by altering the chemistry of pore fluids, thus providing a potential mitigation strategy for local populations, including species like the Pacific littleneck clam (Leukoma staminea).

Here, I present the first in-depth description of the shell mineralogy, microstructure, body size variability, and geochemical properties of modern L. staminea, a common eastern Pacific, shallow, infaunal bivalve. Additionally, I document the impact of ocean acidification on the shell growth and gene expression of L. staminea, and test whether adding shell hash to its infaunal environement can promote growth under acidified conditions. Juvenile clams were raised in four experimental conditions for 90 days: control seawater, acidified seawater, control seawater with shell hash, and acidified seawater with shell hash. Clam shell weight, soft tissue weight, and new shell growth were measured. The presence of shell hash increased the pH, alkalinity and aragonite saturation state of pore fluids across all treatments, and increased shell growth on average, although growth metrics were variable across and within treatments. Lastly, RNA-sequencing revealed the impacts of experimental acidification on juvenile clam gene expression. Clams grown in the presence of shell hash had gene expression profiles more similar to those grown in control (non-acidified) conditions. In all, this research suggests that adding shell hash to coastal sediments alters the chemistry of pore fluids and buffers against acidic conditions that deleteriously affects clam mineralization.

Kempf H., 2024. Utilizing biogeochemical and genetic tools to understand and support clam populations in a changing ocean. PhD Thesis, University of California, Davis. 33 p. Thesis (restricted access).

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How does coastal ocean acidification affect shellfish?

What do shellfish use to build their shells?

These effects cascade through the food web, affecting fish physiology, behavior, and population dynamics, ultimately threatening food security for billions.

How do scientists expect ocean acidification to impact specific fish species?

it will affect their physiology and growth

How does elevated water acidity affect fish ability to survive?

Cephalopods, including cuttlefish and octopuses—important to your school mascot—are also severely affected.

Title:

Content: Clean Beaches Week

Why we need to clean our beaches

It is the middle of summer and you have been counting down the days to your annual beach vacation with your family. You all finally get to the coast, can smell the salty air, and cannot get to the sand fast enough. You are running up the hill and can’t believe what you are seeing, the once beautiful ocean now has hundreds of pounds of trash residing on it. Just like that, your family’s vacation is ruined due to human filth.

July 1 through the 7th is National Clean Beach week. Too often beaches are being trashed and stripped of their once beautiful scenes of beach waves. According to National Geographic, there are 5.25 trillion pieces of trash in the ocean, and approximately 269,000 tons sit on the surface of the ocean. The trash out in the ocean eventually ends up on the beaches for anyone who will pick it up. That is why in 2003, National Clean Beach week was instituted to raise awareness for beaches and the wildlife whose ecosystem gets interrupted by all the trash we humans fill the ocean with.

There are over 800 species of diverse wildlife that are affected by polluted beaches every year. Not only are land animals affected such as; birds, seals, or crabs, but marine animals like turtles and fish are also impacted. Over 100,000 animals die every year due to eating trash or getting entangled in it.

Another issue is that all of this trash can change the temperature of the beach, thus, causing the turtle’s reproductive rate to plummet. This can be seen as a giant environmental conflict due to the fact that these turtles are already an endangered species. Plastics can be easily mistaken as food or not seen at all which is why it is so dangerous. This wildlife is not accustomed to trash like humans, the animals have never had to know the difference.

Not only do we harm the animals on the beach, but we also harm ourselves. All of the bacteria and toxins from the trash can cause harmful illnesses to people at the beach. There have been many water test failures and the EPA has estimated up to 3.5 million people get sick from swimming at the beach and coming into contact with sewage. The harm comes when the water is swallowed, so usually, children are the victims of these illnesses. Some of these may include meningitis, hepatitis, neurological disorders, respiratory ailments, and many more. It is very scary how fast these diseases can set in, so it is imminent not only for yourself but for others to keep trash out of the ocean and beaches.

If you are wondering how you can help, there are so many ways we can help on land that can make an impact on the sea. Obviously, recycling is the most known way to help with the pollution problem; however, strict organic farming, clearing sewer drains, and even eating sustainably can make all the difference. On the contrary, the cheapest and simplest way to help in times like these is to respect the beach.  When you go to the beach, be mindful of the trash you have and pick it up after yourself. Speak up if you see people leaving their trash and hold them accountable.

Even though Clean Beach week is not the most well-known week in history,  we should make efforts every day towards making our beaches cleaner for generations to come. For more information about cleaning the beaches and the causes or effects of them being trashed, visit https://www.nrdc.org and https://www.nrdc.org/stories/beach-pollution.

Which marine organism is vulnerable to increased levels of ocean acidification?

Although their shells differ from bivalves’, ocean acidification can impair embryonic development, cause physical abnormalities, and affect behaviors like camouflage and hunting, critical for survival.

Title:

Content: How climate change and warming waters are affecting the health of the oceans

(NEW YORK) — Oceans do so much to sustain life on Earth, including bearing the brunt of global temperatures that have been steadily warming for decades.

An IPCC special report published in 2019 found that oceans — which make up more than 70% of the world’s surface — have absorbed between 20% and 30% of human-made carbon dioxide emissions since the 1980s. They’re also responsible for absorbing more than 93% of the “combined heat stored by warmed air, sea, and land, and melted ice” since the 1970s, according to the Fifth Assessment report published in 2013 by the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

The tipping point is near, experts told ABC News. But there are collective actions to take that could revitalize oceans to a healthier state — the theme of the United Nations World Oceans Day 2022.

“We really see oceans as the biggest ally in the climate change crisis,” Lea d’Auriol, founder of nonprofit Oceanic Global, told ABC News.

This is how climate change is affecting the health of the world’s oceans:

Species are faced with adapting or becoming extinct

Currently, the oceans “are in a state of complete imbalance” that has nearly doubled since the 1990s, d’Auriol said. Look no further than the fishermen, who supply sustenance to more than three billion people who rely on seafood as their main source of protein, as witnesses that climate change is already here, d’Auriol, said.

“If you wanted to ask someone if climate change is really happening, probably the most surest answer you’d get from anyone aside from a scientist is a fisherman,” Arlo Hemphill, senior oceans campaigner for Greenpeace USA, told ABC News. “Because fishermen are seeing these things happen in real time.”

One of the changes long-time fisherman are witnessing is the presence of new species venturing north as the area with their preferred water temperature expands.

Marine organisms maintain the same temperature as the surrounding water, so that when temperature increases, so does the temperature of the organism, Martin Grosell, professor of ichthyology and chair of the University of Miami’s Department of Marine Biology and Ecology, told ABC News. As the temperature rises, the organisms require more energy to move and survive. But, conversely, the levels of oxygen in the water decrease as the temperature warms, forcing the species to move, Grosell said.

The migrations may seem innocuous, but they are disrupting ecosystems all over the world, such as the phenology, or timing, of when grey seals give birth, Hemphill said.

Conversely, species are continuing to die off due to repeated events of marine heatwaves, Anne Christianson, director of international climate policy for the Center for American Progress, a public policy research organization, told ABC News.

Coral reefs are among the most threatened marine ecosystems in the world, scientists say. Coral bleaching, a process that occurs when water is too warm and the corals expel algae from their tissues, causing them to turn completely white, is happening at “alarming” rates — increasing by a rate of 4% per year — along with an uptick in mortality events along entire regions, d’Auriol said.

A study published in the National Academy of Sciences found that coral reefs could stop growing in 10 years unless greenhouse gases are significantly reduced and that, under a worst-case scenario, 94% of all reefs could erode by 2050.

Reefs are often the indicator of the health of an ecosystem, Brenda Ekwurzel, director of climate science for the Union of Concerned Scientists, told ABC News.

Mammals that rely on Arctic ice, such as polar bears and ringed seals, one of the polar bears’ main food sources that live their lives almost entirely on the ice, are also at risk, Ekwurzel said.

Vegetation such as mangroves, seagrass plants and marshes, some of the largest carbon sinks on the planet, which absorb and store carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, are also at risk of extinction, d’Auriol said.

The number of dead zones are increasing

A dead zone, or the process of hypoxia, occurs when an algal bloom sucks up all the oxygen in an area, making it impossible for marine life to survive — essentially a biological desert, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

A study published in 2008 in Science found that there were 400 dead zones around the world. By 2019, the number of dead zones had increased to about 900, d’Auriol said.

The dead zones often occur in regions with rampant nutrient runoff, such as at the base of the Mississippi River, where it empties into the Gulf of Mexico, Hemphill said.

Sea level rise will change coastal communities

The biggest contributor to sea level rise is the melting ice in the Arctic, which is heating up twice as fast as the rest of the world, according to the 2021 Arctic Report Card by NOAA. Increases in sea level rise of 6 inches to a foot since the Industrial Revolution may seem like small increments, but crucial infrastructure near oceans was not built to withstand the added inches of water, experts say.

Millions of people living in coastlines around the world, including those in mega cities such as New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco, will be displaced by the rise in sea levels, d’Auriol said.

Carbon dioxide emissions sparks ocean acidification

Ocean acidification, which occurs when water’s pH levels are lowered as a result of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, is not directly caused by warming temperatures but rather by excess carbon dioxide emissions, Hemphill said.

“The alarming thing about it is that shellfish everything from from microscopic plankton, to clams and crabs and coral reefs themselves use calcium carbonate to build their shells,” he said. “And as the ocean acidifies, it becomes more difficult to create the shells.”

Ocean acidification, rather than coral bleaching, will likely be the culprit behind the demise of coral reefs, Ekwurzel said.

Collective actions are necessary to protect the oceans

In line with the 2022 theme for World Oceans Day, “Revitalization: Collective Action for the Ocean,” scientists and conservationists are highlighting the need for individuals, communities, nonprofits, the private sector and governments to come together to create solutions, d’Auriol said.

This includes ensuring the health of marine protected areas by eliminating housing, fishing zones and shipping traffic in the vicinity, d’Auriol said.

Governments will need to create policies to protect both human life and the health of the ocean, Christianson said.

“There isn’t one silver bullet for solving this crisis in the ocean and on land,” Christianson said.

However, the ticking time bomb is the race to drastically reduce global greenhouse gas emissions within the next decade, the experts said.

“We can’t afford to delay those solutions any longer,” Ekwurzel said.

Along the path to properly protecting and preserving oceans is ridding the narrative that oceans are a separate environmental issue from climate change and the conservation of biodiversity, d’Auriol said.

“Because we do live on a water planet, and it’s responsible for sustaining all life on Earth,” she said.

Copyright (C) 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

At what stage of life are calcium carbonate-based organisms most vulnerable to changes in water pH?

How do scientists expect ocean acidification to impact specific fish species?

it will affect their physiology and growth

What factors lead to damage of coral reefs?

Which marine organism is vulnerable to increased levels of ocean acidification?

Research into adaptation potential is ongoing, with some species showing signs of resilience linked to genetic evolution and regulation of ion transport in acidified waters, but many populations remain vulnerable .

How do scientists expect ocean acidification to impact specific fish species?

it will affect their physiology and growth

Marine mammals, such as polar bears and seals dependent on Arctic ice, confront habitat loss as warming and acidification alter ecosystem dynamics and prey availability.

Which marine organism is vulnerable to increased levels of ocean acidification?

Which regions are most affected by ocean acidification?

Vegetated habitats like mangroves, seagrasses, and marshes—key carbon sinks—are at risk of decline, reducing their capacity to mitigate climate change and support biodiversity .

Ocean acidification also disrupts plankton communities fundamental to marine food webs.

Title:

Content: If we continue to live the way we are, I am worried for the people who will see the next 90 years.
The latest scientific explanation suggests that the biological world is on the verge of destruction.
The collapse has indeed begun, and it is bound to accelerate, leading to an increase in the scale of the collapse and its impact.
Everything that we depend on for our survival — what our environment has always given us — may begin to falter or disappear altogether.
The predicted disaster will be more devastating than Chernobyl or any event to date, not only causing floods, powerful hurricanes and summer wildfires, but also reducing the quality of life for each victim and their descendants, with irreparable consequences.
When the global ecological collapse is finally resolved and a balance is reached, humanity will live forever on a barren planet if it still exists on Earth.
2030s
Decades of large-scale deforestation and illegal burning in the Amazon basin by people who want to develop more land for agricultural purposes will reduce the area of the Amazon rainforest to 75% of the original forest by the 2030s.
Although still massive, this could be a tipping point in the Amazon rainforest, triggering a phenomenon known as forest dieback.
Forests suddenly become unable to generate enough water from the shrinking canopy to nourish rain clouds, and the most vulnerable areas of the Amazon rainforest degenerate first into seasonal drylands and later into savannahs.
The phenomenon of this decline is self-propelled — the more cases of blight occur, the more trees will die; as a result, drought will quickly sweep across the Amazon basin, causing severe damage.
The loss of biodiversity is devastating, with one in 10 known species in the world inhabiting the Amazon basin, representing innumerable local extinctions that create a domino effect across the ecosystem.
All wild populations will be severely damaged, and it will become increasingly difficult for each individual to feed and find a mate.
Perhaps some of the species used in medicine, new food, and industry disappeared before we even knew it existed, and the human cost was even more profound and heavy.
As the forests wither, the Amazon basin floods frequently, flushing the soil from tree roots into rivers; 30 million people may have to leave the watershed, including nearly 3 million native inhabitants; changes in moisture in the air could show signs of reduced rainfall across much of South America, leading to water shortages in many large cities, ironically because, As a result, the farmland developed in the forest is also dry.
Food production in Brazil, Peru, Bolivia and Paraguay will be significantly affected.
For the Holocene, the Amazon rainforest ’ s best environmental service is absorbing more than 100 billion tons of carbon.
Forest wildfires that occur in each new dry season release large amounts of carbon into the atmosphere, while the reduced capacity of forest photosynthesis means less carbon is absorbed by the region each year.
The extra carbon dioxide in the atmosphere will undoubtedly accelerate the rate of global warming.
On the other side of the globe, the Arctic Sea is expected to experience its first completely ice-free summer in the 2030s, making the Arctic open water.
Even if the sea ice that has been in the safe haven for many years, the thick ice layer freezes over and over again, it cannot avoid warming and may start to disappear.
The seaweed forests that lie beneath the ice fall to the ocean floor, affecting the entire Arctic food chain.
As the Earth's ice layer decreases, the white area will gradually shrink each year, which means that the solar energy reflected back into space will also decrease, and the pace of global warming will accelerate again.
The Arctic began to lose its ability to cool the Earth.
The 1950s
Forest wildfires and melting ice over the next three decades will dramatically increase carbon emissions in the atmosphere.
As always, the surface of the sea absorbs too much carbon, and carbon dioxide will form carbonic acid after it is dissolved in the water, first at the shallow beach, then into the ocean circulation, and finally throughout the water body.
By the 2050s, the entire ocean could reach enough acid levels to cause a catastrophic decline.
Coral reefs are the most abundant of all marine ecosystems and are particularly vulnerable to acidification.
Due to years of coral bleaching, rising ocean acidity makes it harder for coral reefs to repair their calcium carbonate structure.
In this era of warmer air and intense storms, coral reefs may collapse as a result.
It is predicted that 90% of the world ’ s coral reefs will be destroyed within a few years.
The oceans are also vulnerable to acidification.
Various plankton species at the bottom of the food chain also have calcium carbonate shells. An increasingly acidified ocean will inhibit its flourishing, and fish populations throughout the food chain will suffer from it, and the harvest of oysters and mussels will begin to decline.
The rest of commercial fishing and fish farming may begin to come to an end in the 1950s, with the lives of more than half a billion people directly affected, and some source of protein that humans have been consuming will disappear from our diets.
The 1980s
By the 1980s, global food production on land may be in crisis.
In the cool and affluent regions of the world, intensive agriculture has used too much fertilizer for a century, resulting in depletion of land forces, no vitality and no harvest; while in warm and poor regions, global warming will cause temperature rise, monsoon, storm and dry season changes, making farming doomed to failure.
Millions of tons of topsoil lost around the world could enter rivers, bringing flooding to downstream towns.
If current levels of pesticide use remain high, habitat loss continues, and pollinator diseases such as bees continue to spread, the disappearance of insect species will affect three-quarters of our food crops by the 1980s.
Harvests of nuts, fruits, vegetables, and oilseeds will be greatly affected if you can ’ t rely on the diligent pollination of insects.
At some stage, the condition may worsen while another disease is endemic.
We just learned that there is a link between the emergence of new viruses and the survival of the planet, with an estimated 1.7 million potentially human viruses hiding in mammalian and bird populations.
The more we cut down forests, expand farmland, and illegally trade wildlife to destroy nature, the more likely we are to cause another outbreak of infectious diseases.
2100s
The 20th century could set off a massive global humanitarian crisis, which would be the largest forced migration in history.
In the 21st century, coastal cities around the world are expected to face a sea level rise of 0.9 meters due to the slow melting of the ice sheets in Greenland and Antarctica and the increasing warming of the oceans.
Over five decades, more than a billion of the 500 coastal cities may have been affected by storm surges, but by the 20th century, sea levels will rise enough to inundate ports and flood hinterlands.
Ports in Rotterdam, Ho Chi Minh City, Miami and other countries will not be able to withstand flooding, so they cannot take risks and become uninhabitable.
Those who were displaced had to move inland.
But there is a more serious problem.
If all of the above had happened, the Earth would be 4 degrees warmer by 2010 than it is today.
More than a quarter of the population may live in places where the average temperature exceeds 29 degrees Celsius, and today only the Sahara Desert can reach this daily high temperature.
It is impossible to farm in these areas, and a billion rural people may be forced to find a better way out.
Areas where the global climate is still milder will be under enormous pressure from population migration, where borders between countries will inevitably disappear, and conflicts may erupt around the world.
In this context, the arrival of the sixth great extinction will become overwhelming.
(Excerpt from Living on Our Planet)
【 Introduction 】
Netflix documentary of the same name
Forest fires, Arctic ice melting, torrential rain, floods, high temperatures to jump electric connection...
Is the Sixth Great Extinction Coming?
The human mind!
A 100-year-old man who wants to save young people ’ s lives tomorrow.
This is the planet we live on, and we can only protect our future on our own.
★ British National Treasure Nature Science Moderator, Historian, Witness of Earth History
★ Awarded the Order of the Lord by the Queen of England
★ IMDb top ten films, four of which are his works
Breaking the Guinness World Record with 4 Hours of IG Tracking Millions
★ Twice winner of the Emmy Award for Best Narrator
He traveled to 39 countries and photographed 650 species.
There are dozens of animals and plants all over the world named after him.
“I ’ m 95 years old, I ’ ve been making nature documentaries for over 60 years, and I ’ ve been witnessing the change of the planet all my life.
Having witnessed the decline of the earth from its beauty to its present day, and watching the oceans, wastelands, rainforests, and glaciers disappear and destroy their habitats, I will surely feel guilty if I choose to ignore them. "
After 2020, we will experience the following:
By 2030, the Amazon rainforest will be 75% less able to produce water and absorb carbon dioxide, and the Arctic Sea will have its first ice-free summer.
In 2040, the permafrost of the North melts, releasing 1,400 trillion tons of carbon dioxide and accelerating climate change.
By 2050, the oceans will absorb too much carbon leading to acidification, serious ecological damage, and reduced fish populations.
In 2080, the world is plunged into a food crisis due to overuse, exhaustion of land and failure of farming.
By 2100, the Earth's temperature had risen by 4 degrees, most areas were uninhabitable, national borders had disappeared, and wars had broken out.
The sixth great extinction is coming.
This book is the life story of David Attenborough and tells how we committed this terrible disaster, our present predicament, and our vision for the future.
But we ’ re lucky if we act now, make changes, and fix everything.
Live on our planet and make it better.
There is still time and a last chance to restore this beautiful world.
The book will teach you to take action, and what the earth needs is your will.
【 About the Author 】
by David Attenborough
In 1985, he was awarded a knighthood by the Queen of England for his contribution to the filming of natural and historical documentaries. In 2020, he was selected as one of the “Top 100 People in the UK ”.
Born in 1926, he is a natural science broadcaster and historian.
In collaboration with the BBC Natural History Unit, he has written nine comprehensive documentary films on animals and plants on Earth, four of which are ranked in the top 10 of IMBD. He won the Emmy Award for Best Interpreter in 2018 and 2019, and produced Living on Our Planet in 2020, documenting his life ’ s testimony to the Earth and his future. Attention.
> Johnny.
by Jonnie Hughes
A science writer and documentary director, he produces science and natural history films for the BBC, Discovery, National Geographic and Netflix, and has been involved in the BAFTA award-winning BBC series The Hunt and Emmy Award-winning Our Planet.
【 Translator 's Profile 】
＞ CHEN Si-wah
Graduated from the Department of Applied English at Ming Chuan University, he is interested in reading and writing, and is now a freelance translator.
# Earth # 22nd Century # Sea Level Rise # Rainforest # Extinction

Which marine organism is vulnerable to increased levels of ocean acidification?

Zooplankton copepods exhibit physiological stress with acidification combined with warming, affecting growth and reproduction, impacting entire Arctic food chains .

Title:

Content: The Arctic region is currently undergoing rapid and significant changes, with acidification and warming occurring at alarming rates.
These shifts raise concerns about the resilience of marine communities in the face of such environmental shifts.
Marine zooplankton, especially copepods, play a crucial role in the Arctic food web.
However, differences in environmental conditions can disrupt zooplankton populations, leading to adverse consequences for the entire ecosystem.
Recent research has focused on understanding the extent to which copepods in early life are exposed to environmental stressors, as they represent a critical bottleneck in the copepods life cycle.
A study by Espinel Velasco et al.
(2023) Explore the responses of 4-day-old Kalanos Hyperborius Lenobli to acidification (pH 7.5 and 8.1) and warming (0 and 3 ° C), both individually and collectively.
The study revealed that the larvae 'breathing rates increased significantly when exposed to a combination of acidification and warming.
Surprisingly, exposure to these stressors individually did not produce the same effect.
Surprisingly, the researchers did not find any noticeable differences in fat content and fatty acid composition in the larvae across various experimental treatments.
Wax esters, which make up about 75% of the fat reserve, and high amounts of long-chain fatty acids 20: 1 and 22: 1, necessary for copepods to reproduce, have been detected in all treatments.
By highlighting the sensitivity of larvae to the combined effects of acidification and warming, this study aligns with a growing body of evidence from relevant research.
It highlights the potential impacts of global change on Arctic copepod populations and stresses the importance of understanding early life stage responses to environmental stressors.
Questions and Answers:
Q: What are zooplankton?
A: Zooplankton refers to small, often microscopic, organisms that drift into the ocean or other bodies of water and serve as one of the main sources of food for many marine species.
Q: What is the role of copepods in the Arctic food web?
A: Copepods, especially calanotic copepods such as Calanus Hyperboreus, are a critical component of the Arctic food web.
They serve as a vital link between primary producers (such as phytoplankton) and higher trophic levels, serving as a food source for various marine species.
Q: What is acidification?
A: Acidification refers to the process of increasing acidity (lowering pH) in seawater due to the absorption of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
This occurs as a result of human activities, such as the burning of fossil fuels.
Q: How does global warming affect marine ecosystems?
A: Ocean warming can have various impacts on marine ecosystems, including changes in species distribution, changing reproductive cycles, and potential disruptions to the delicate balance of food webs.
Source: Frontiers in Marine Science, DOI: 10.3389 / fmars.2023.1240673

Which marine organism is vulnerable to increased levels of ocean acidification?

Which regions are most affected by ocean acidification?

Shrimp species exposed to warming and acidification show reduced larval survival and developmental difficulties, indicating possible population collapses in affected waters .

Title:

Content: Home of the Day
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In cooperation with the Foundation for the Advancement of Science and the Atomic Energy Agency
« Research » conducted a study on the impact of « acidification » on shrimp
The Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research (KISR), in cooperation with the Kuwait Foundation for the Advancement of Sciences (KFAS) and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), completed a study project to investigate the impact of ocean acidification and ocean surface warming on the growth and abundance of local shrimp.
In turn, the head of the project, researcher Lamia Muslim at the Center for Environmental and Life Sciences Research at the Institute, said that there are many animals that contain in their skeleton or shell calcium carbonate, and changes in the pH of water can negatively affect these organisms, especially in the early stages of their life. The sea and some phytoplankton species, but that does not mean that this is a positive thing because the increased growth of these organisms can disrupt the food chain, biodiversity and ecosystem mechanisms and construction.
She added that the presence of large amounts of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere leads to the occurrence of global warming and the rise of the surface of the oceans by between one and three degrees Celsius, and the rise of the water level to an amount ranging from 0.18 to 0.79 meters, which in turn leads to acidification and warming of the surface of the oceans, and therefore to change the chemistry of the ocean and threaten marine ecosystems.
She pointed out that the shrimp mothers were collected from Kuwaiti territorial waters during the breeding season to obtain eggs and shrimp larvae in sufficient numbers to conduct experiments on all stages of shrimp age, as the study experiments were conducted in the laboratories of the Institute in a controlled system simulating the expected climate changes in the future.
The results of the study confirmed that the warming of the surface of the oceans could have a greater impact than ocean acidification on the early life stages of shrimp larvae, as shrimp larvae exposed to high temperatures showed accelerated growth rates to reach the sizes of older shrimp, but with lower survival rates, it is very likely that lower survival and growth rates under future climate scenarios may lead to the emergence of smaller shrimp larvae. These larvae will undergo multiple molting processes over their life cycle making them vulnerable; furthermore, the study results suggest additional effects of combined exposure to ocean surface warming and acidification on egg-hatching success, survival, and shrimp larval development.
Al-Musallam said: “The study is fully consistent across the entire life cycle of the M Nair shrimp, where high mortality of larvae at low pH and high water temperature indicates a possible collapse of this species of crustacean under conditions of increased ocean acidification and future warming of the ocean surface, which also leads to a significant reduction in shrimp stocks in the Arabian Gulf due to overfishing or reduced larval growth due to climate change. ”
For his part, dr.
Dr. Saifuddin Iqbaluddin, from the Center for Environmental and Life Sciences Research, said experts regularly measure water temperature and pH levels and look at how marine life might respond to these changes in the coming decades.
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At what stage of life are calcium carbonate-based organisms most vulnerable to changes in water pH?

How do scientists expect ocean acidification to impact specific fish species?

it will affect their physiology and growth

How does coastal ocean acidification affect shellfish?

Furthermore, increasing ocean acidification leads to the rise of expanding hypoxic “dead zones” where oxygen depletion makes marine life survival impossible, exacerbating biodiversity loss .

How do scientists expect ocean acidification to impact specific fish species?

How does elevated water acidity affect fish ability to survive?

What factors lead to damage of coral reefs?

Collective action is essential to address these challenges: raising awareness, reducing CO2 emissions drastically within the next decade, protecting marine habitats from overfishing and pollution, and establishing marine protected areas with policy support can help mitigate ongoing damage .

Simple lifestyle changes like reducing plastic use, responsible seafood consumption, and participating in local coastal clean-ups can engage youth and communities in ocean protection efforts .

Title:

Content: 6 Ways Families Can Protect the Marine Environment—and Why They Should

The ocean is important for mankind. Here's how experts say families can make a difference in caring for the marine world.

Many nights out of the year, Lemuel Pemberton walks along Lover's Beach on the Caribbean island of Nevis looking for nesting turtles. "When they come to nest, we measure them and tag them if they are not tagged," says Pemberton, founder of the Nevis Turtle Group, which pioneers sea turtle conservation across the island. "We have tagged probably somewhere between 500 and 1000 turtles so far in the region since 2003."

It's one of three main beaches on the island where turtles nest, which occurs at different times throughout the year, depending on the species of turtle. It takes 60 days on average for the eggs to hatch after they've been laid, but that's only if they get the chance. Whether it's due to coastal erosion, human-driven habitat destruction, or other harmful human behavior, many sea turtles will never hatch and make their way into the ocean.

Pemberton says sea turtles, which are an indicator species helping to diagnose the health of the ecosystem, are a great way to get families to care about the marine world. "Everybody loves the turtles," says Pemberton, pointing out that it's easy to engage with them since they are one of few marine animals to come on land, and they are also gentle. And getting families all over the world to care about the marine ecosystem, says Pemberton and other experts, is important in protecting ocean life.

Why do the oceans matter so much? Oceans not only regulate the climate, but scientists also estimate that up to 80% of oxygen production comes from them. The ocean also provides food and sustenance for people all over the globe. "The protection of the marine environment is very much a link to our own survival—that's one of the reasons why marine conservation in general is so important," says David Godfrey, executive director of the Sea Turtle Conservancy, a Gainesville, Florida-based organization founded in 1959.

That's why it's critical for parents to start teaching their kids from a young age to protect the marine world. Here are simple ways experts say they can do that together as family.

Don't Litter at the Beach

Littering anywhere is a bad idea, but be extra cautious while near water. The simple act of cleaning up after your family on the beach can prevent garbage from getting into the water and hurting sea creatures. "Whatever garbage you have, take it back with you, no matter what it is," advises Pemberton.

Take a Family Conservation Trip

"As a parent myself, having raised a child in the world today, I think exposing them to the natural world as much as you can, letting them see that we're not alone and the world is full of other types of animals that have their own lives, that use habitat in different ways than we do [is important]," says Godfrey.

There are various conservation vacation destinations across the world that families can travel to, and hotels that participate in conservation efforts. For example, the Sea Turtle Conservancy has been working with the Four Seasons Resort Nevis to protect sea turtles in the region, and families can participate in the annual Sea Turtle Summer Camp package to learn all about the animals through marine-themed activities. Programs like these help kids build a love and care for the marine world that they will carry with them as they grow.

Engage With Ocean Life Right at Home

Experiencing marine adventures firsthand is great, but it's not feasible for every family to take a trip to the beach each year. The good news is there are ways to engage kids at home. You can pick up marine books to read together or have a movie night. "A lot of kids first learn about the ocean through fiction; I'd be shocked to find anyone under the age of 10 who doesn't love either SpongeBob SquarePants, Finding Nemo, or The Little Mermaid. Help build on this love by teaching them about the real sea life behind their favorite flicks," says Britta Baechler, Ph.D., senior manager of ocean plastics research at Ocean Conservancy. "Nature documentaries like Blue Planet II are also great ways to see beloved cartoon characters in a whole new light, and maybe meet some new ocean friends, too."

Keep Up With Conservation Groups

Families can donate to marine conservation groups around the world and also engage with their efforts. The Sea Turtle Conservancy, for example, has developed a research program that involves using satellite tracking to track specific turtles as they swim through the ocean for scientific purposes, as well as for conservation and education. The organization encourages families to join in on the fun by following the journey of the turtles for free online through a program called Tour de Turtles Marathon. "Whichever of the turtles travels the furthest in the course of three months will be the winner," says Godfrey. And each turtle races to raise awareness for a cause, including problematic lighting on shore that is bothersome to marine life, plastic in the environment, and commercial fishing.

Participate in a Local Coastal Cleanup

Regardless of whether you live on the coast or hundreds of miles inland, every piece of garbage you collect can make a difference, says Dr. Baechler. The Ocean Conservancy runs the International Coastal Cleanup (ICC), a beach and waterway cleanup effort. "Teach your kids about the importance of caring for our ocean and make joining a cleanup an annual tradition," she adds. Families can visit SignUpToCleanup.org to learn more about cleanups in their area.

A few more pluses? Volunteering has been found to increase empathy, improve mental health, and enhance teamwork and leadership skills.

Reduce Your Family's Use of Plastics

"So much of the plastic we use ends up in the water," says Godfrey. "It ends up in rivers, in streams, and those flow to the coast and so it all ends up in the ocean." Currents take those plastics and tend to accumulate them in specific areas where they break down into smaller pieces and then marine animals mistake them for food.

Families can make choices together to reduce their use of plastics at home and opt for recyclable items or alternative ones. "Plastic is almost like a gateway lesson," says Godfrey. "You learn about plastics and learn about how your use of them affects the natural world and that kind of opens up kids' minds to ask themselves, 'Well, what else do I do that affects the natural world?'" That can get them thinking about being conscious of other issues that affect the planet like water use and driving.

"Every family isn't going to sit around and solve climate change," says Godfrey. "But you can sit around as a family and you can decide to make your footprint on the world a little less harmful to the natural world."

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In summary, ocean acidification severely impacts diverse marine life including shelled organisms (mollusks, crustaceans), cephalopods (cuttlefish, octopuses), fish, plankton, and marine mammals by disrupting calcification, development, behavior, and ecosystem structure.

How do scientists expect ocean acidification to impact specific fish species?

it will affect their physiology and growth

How does coastal ocean acidification affect shellfish?

How does elevated water acidity affect fish ability to survive?

Which marine organism is vulnerable to increased levels of ocean acidification?

The combined effects with warming further exacerbate risks.

Title:

Content: Can ‘good sounds’ help coral islands recover from bleaching?

Many coral islands like India’s Lakshadweep are inhabited by people

March 25, 2024 05:30 am | Updated 05:30 am IST

Staghorn corals seen in the waters off Man Nai Island, near Rayong province, Thailand, February 28, 2024. | Photo Credit: Reuters

Climate change is the most serious environmental problem facing the world today. One of the main reasons for this is the global warming caused by the extraction of coal and oil, which have been underground for millennia, and burning them for industrial and non-industrial purposes to generate energy. The effects of these activities were exacerbated by other causes of global warming, such as deforestation.

Global warming has many consequences, including rising sea levels and changes in the frequency of extreme weather. Another is the destruction of coral reefs. India’s Lakshadweep islands for instance are islands formed on such reefs.

Coral reefs have started to die

Coral reefs are built by a type of organism that, when it accumulates, forms reefs and islands. They live in large colonies. Corals have a symbiotic relationship with microscopic algae called zooxanthellae, which live in the corals’ tissues. Life becomes tough when the temperature of the water around them rises. When it does, the corals expel the zooxanthellae. An important visual symptom of these effects is that the colour of the coral reef changes, and subsequently they die off in droves. This event is called bleaching.

However, not all coral bleaching events are due to warm water. Ocean acidification – which is when the pH of the water drops as more carbon dioxide dissolves in it – is another well-known cause. More acidic water reduces the availability of calcium minerals that the corals need to build and repair their exoskeletons.

In many parts of the world, coral reefs have started to die due to global warming experienced over the years. The U.S. lost half of its coral reefs in the Caribbean in one year in 2005 due to a large-scale bleaching event after warm waters around the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico expanded southward. When scientists collated satellite data of the region from the previous 20 years, they were able to confirm that the 2005 event exerted more thermal stress than those in the previous 20 years combined.

A source of hope

The Great Barrier Reef in Australia is the largest coral reef in the world. Recently many people there protested strongly against a plan to open a new coal mine because they were worried about the survival of the reef – not because the mine would directly affect the reef but because of the effects of burning fossil fuels at large.

Many coral islands like our Lakshadweep are inhabited by people. The destruction of these coral reefs will naturally affect the people there. A rising sea level due to climate change is another problem for them. Many small island countries like Tuvalu and Vanuatu are facing the threat of submergence and have articulated that at international climate conferences. Their submergence is a certainty now; the only question is when it will happen. Therefore, it is very scary that the coral reefs themselves are being destroyed and, axiomatically, any chance of saving the corals can and does become a source of hope.

It is against this background that about 5,000 scientists gathered in New Orleans, in the U.S., in February this year for the American Geophysical Union’s biennial ‘Ocean Sciences’ meeting. Here, Amy Apprill, a scientist at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute in Massachusetts and who studies coral reefs, provided information about a study she had been part of.

The coral polyps

To understand this study, we need to first understand what a coral reef is. Coral reefs are built by an organism called a polyp. A coral group is a colony of a large number of genetically identical polyps. Each polyp is a sac-like animal, usually a few millimeters wide and a few centimeters tall. It has a set of tentacles surrounding a mouth-like opening. Polyps are gregarious: they like to socialise.

Every polyp also sheds an exoskeleton at its bottom and over many generations this discarded substance accumulates to form a large structure up to several metres wide. The polyps organise their lives around this structure. A coral reef is formed when a large number of polyps collects in this way.

Polyps use sound to communicate with each other. Naturally, the sound of a healthy colony will differ from that of an unhealthy colony. Dr. Apprill and her team used this distinction in their new study.

The sound of a health colony

The investigators set about examining whether a degraded reef could be enriched by replaying healthy reef sounds, and increasing the rate at which polyps settled in it. They conducted a series of field studies in the Virgin Islands of the U.S., where they quantified the settlement rates of three species of corals with two different breeding strategies.

They found that in degraded coral reefs, the settlement rate increased when such sounds were played (using a novel underwater speaker system). They also reported that the settlement rate was higher closer to the speaker and reduced as one moved away from the speaker, indicating the impact of the sounds played.

Finally, it would be a mistake to think the researchers have solved the reef settlement problem posed by climate change. Their study was just an experiment. If what they did is tested repeatedly and at least a good fraction of instances are successful, then we can decide that their technique can help in practice. But we still don’t know what problems might arise when this project is implemented on a large scale to save coral reefs. We also need to find out the volume at which the sound has to be played and if there are any other parameters to be controlled.

In sum, the new study is just a pointer, even if also a positive one.

V. Sasi Kumar is a scientist formerly at the Centre for Earth Science Studies, Thiruvananthapuram.

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Awareness and action are critical to protecting ocean health and the dependent livelihoods now and into the future.

This information can be valuable for your club’s posters and pamphlets to highlight the hidden but urgent threats ocean acidification poses to marine biodiversity and human well-being .

Title:

Content: There were 974 press releases posted in the last 24 hours and 451,057 in the last 365 days.

Editorial: the changing carbonate systems in coastal, estuarine, shelf areas and marginal seas

Editorial on the Research Topic
The changing carbonate systems in coastal, estuarine, shelf areas and marginal seas

Global atmospheric CO2 concentrations have increased from 320 ppm in the 1960s to the present-day value of 420 ppm, primarily due to anthropogenic activities. This increase influences the seawater carbonate system, impacting the marine ecosystem. There are still gaps that need to be resolved for predicting how these marine systems respond to current and future CO2 levels. Any actions to mitigate the change in pH will require adaptive management of multiple stressors across several spatial scales. Combined, these perspectives yield a more comprehensive picture of events during ocean acidification (OA).

This Research Topic brings together articles from different regions, including coastal, estuarine, and shelf areas and marginal seas, all susceptible to changing atmospheric conditions, riverine inputs, air-sea CO2 exchanges, and multiple acid-base reactions that can alter carbonate chemistry. Articles on the long-term trends of CO2 system descriptors and the interactions with calcifying organisms were also sought. The present Research Topic is primarily based on original articles devoted to carbonate systems in the marginal seas, but it is a pity that some interesting papers dealing with freshwater inflows, estuaries, and related coastal areas were not accepted.

Fransson et al. examined the effects of glacial and sea-ice meltwater on ocean acidification in the waters near the 79 North Glacier (79 NG) and the northeast Greenland shelf. The researchers investigated various ocean acidification factors and the influence of freshening, primary production, and air-sea CO2 exchange. One of the key findings was that the biological removal of CO2 through primary production played a crucial role in offsetting the negative impact of freshwater dilution on the aragonite saturation state (ΩAr), which is a measure of ocean acidification. This compensation effect was most pronounced in 2012, especially in the vicinity of the 79 NG front, where there was a significant presence of glacial meltwater and surface stratification. In 2016, a different scenario was observed, with a more homogenized water column due to sea-ice meltwater. In this case, the compensation effect of biological CO2 removal on ΩAr was weaker compared to 2012. The study also suggests that in the future, with ongoing climate and ocean chemistry changes, the increasing influence of meltwater may surpass the mitigating effects of biological CO2 removal. This could lead to unfavorable conditions for organisms that rely on calcium carbonate for their shells and skeletons. Thus, all the proposed factors need to be closely monitored as they could have significant implications for marine ecosystems and calcifying organisms in the face of ongoing environmental changes.

In a study by You et al., the researchers assessed ocean acidification in the Western Pacific using boron isotopic analysis in a large tropical coral core from Lanyu Islet in Southeast Taiwan. They used a well-preserved coral skeleton (Porites lobata) for detailed major and trace element analysis, including boron (B) and its isotopes (δ11B), as well as stable isotopes of oxygen (O) and carbon (C). Their primary objective was to investigate environmental changes during the period from 1991 to 1997. The coral records revealed a distinct temporal trend in sea surface temperatures (SSTs) based on elemental/calcium ratios on both annual and monthly scales. Notably, the most temperature-sensitive proxy, Mg/Ca-SSTs, indicated a significant warming trend during the study period. The researchers also observed subtle changes in the annual δ11B record, corresponding to a pH decrease of approximately 0.2 units. This change was consistent with other coral records in the Pacific, in-situ measurements of pH and pCO2, and model predictions, highlighting the impact of human-induced ocean acidification. When combined with Mg/Ca-SST data, the intra-annual coral data exhibited a clear seasonal cycle, with higher pH levels during the winter, aligning with surface ocean pCO2 patterns. These chemical and isotopic findings in corals underscore the value of marine biogenic carbonates as informative tools for reconstructing oceanic pH changes.

Rivaro et al. investigated freshwater inflow into the Ross Sea in Antarctica, particularly through the eastern gate and along the Ross Ice Shelf. They conducted a survey during the austral summer of 2019-20 to assess the contribution of Amundsen Sea Water (ASW) to salinity variations. The researchers used data on total alkalinity (AT), pH, temperature, and salinity to analyze the properties of the carbonate system, including total inorganic carbon, pCO2, and the calcium carbonate saturation state of aragonite and calcite (Ω), along with the Revelle factor. They also estimated anthropogenic carbon (Cant) using the TrOCA method to gain insights into the carbon cycle and its impact on ocean acidification due to atmospheric CO2 uptake. The study found that changes in the carbonate chemistry of surface waters were primarily influenced by physical properties. AT and pH were effective indicators of the entry of ASW, demonstrating limited mixing between different water masses in the shelf area. Additionally, shelf waters were enriched in Cant, leading to levels lower than what was estimated for shelf waters generated in the western Ross Sea.

Ingrosso et al. investigated the factors influencing the absorption of anthropogenic carbon dioxide (Cant) in the Ross Sea, an area known for its capacity to absorb carbon due to its cold waters, high primary productivity, and unique circulation on the Antarctic continental shelf. The researchers focused on the carbonate system to assess the current levels of anthropogenic carbon and understand how physical and biological processes regulate Cant sequestration along the shelf-slope continuum. They found that the Winter Water mass, formed during convective events, contained high levels of Cant due to the mixing of layers during the cold season. In contrast, the older and less-ventilated Circumpolar Deep Water entering the Ross Sea had minimal anthropogenic carbon contributions. The study also revealed variations in Cant content between different areas, such as polynyas and the shelf break, influenced by their distinct hydrographic and biological characteristics. The intense microbial activity in these regions consumed a significant portion of particulate organic carbon, leading to the release of CO2 into the intermediate and deep layers of the continental shelf zone. The findings underscored the importance of summer biological activity over the Ross Sea shelf in facilitating the transfer of anthropogenic CO2 between organic and inorganic carbon pools. This process contributed to ocean acidification in the upper mesopelagic zone and the long-term sequestration of Cant in the deep ocean.

Hassoun et al. conducted a comprehensive review of ocean acidification (OA) research in the Mediterranean region using data from the United Nations’ International Atomic Energy Agency’s Ocean Acidification International Coordination Center (OA-ICC) database and an extensive survey. Their analysis revealed several important knowledge gaps in understanding OA trends and biological impacts in the semi-enclosed and densely populated Mediterranean Sea. These gaps are attributed to disparities in OA research capabilities among Mediterranean countries and the intricate, long-term interactions among biological, chemical, and physical factors. The study highlighted an uneven distribution of OA research efforts across the region, with the Algero-Provencal and Ionian sub-basins being the least studied areas. Furthermore, the carbonate system in coastal zones remains inadequately quantified, and there is a scarcity of long-term time series data in the Mediterranean, making it challenging to assess OA trends along the coast. While certain groups of organisms, such as autotrophs (algae, phanerogams, phytoplankton), mollusks, and corals, have received considerable attention in research, others, including microbes, small mollusks (particularly pteropods), and sponges, have been relatively understudied. Despite available resources and agreements for enhanced and coordinated OA governance, there is a lack of consistent OA policies in the Mediterranean Sea. To address these challenges, the article offers recommendations based on their literature review and insights from the Mediterranean OA scientific community.

Curbelo-Hernández et al. conducted an analysis of the carbon dioxide (CO2) system, anthropogenic carbon (Cant) inventory, and air-sea CO2 fluxes (FCO2) in the waters surrounding the Macaronesian archipelago. They found that variations in CO2 levels were primarily influenced by temperature changes, biological activity, and advection processes driven by differences in the Canary Upwelling System, mixed layer depth, mesoscale activity, and circulation patterns. Surface CO2 levels (fCO2,sw) were found to be influenced by biological production and the injection of CO2-rich water in tropical waters, while temperature fluctuations played a significant role in subtropical waters. The study also examined the factors that control changes in the total inorganic carbon normalized to a constant salinity (NCT) in the upper ocean. The research revealed an increase in the uptake and storage of anthropogenic carbon compared to preexisting levels, as calculated using the TrOCA 2007 approach, which served as an upper limit for NCT. The importance of the organic carbon pump diminished in subtropical waters, while the carbonate pump had minimal contribution. Regarding FCO2, the area behaved as a CO2 sink during the winter, but strong outgassing was observed over the Cape Blanc filament. To enhance understanding in this region, the authors compared their data with existing datasets (SOCAT and GLODAP) and provided a new set of equations for calculating fCO2,sw, Cant, and FCO2 in the Macaronesian area.

All these studies emphasize the urgency of addressing ocean acidification and its multifaceted impacts on marine ecosystems. They call for continued monitoring, research, and international cooperation to better understand and mitigate the effects of rising CO2 levels on our oceans and the life they support.

Ogrinc N., Giani M. & Faganeli J., 2023. Editorial: the changing carbonate systems in coastal, estuarine, shelf areas and marginal seas. Frontiers Marine Science 10: 1325363. doi: 10.3389/fmars.2023.1325363. Article.

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What factors lead to damage of coral reefs?


Syrian traditional glassblowing is a centuries-old artisanal craft with roots dating back more than 2,000 years, reportedly originating from the Phoenicians and evolving significantly throughout Syrian history, especially in regions like Damascus and Aleppo.

Damascus, in particular, has long been a cultural hub where the craft intertwined with local artistic traditions, incorporating Islamic motifs and delicate painting techniques using oxides and thermal colors to decorate objects such as mishkats (lanterns), hookah bottles, vases, and cups.

This craft is not only valued for its aesthetic beauty but also for its cultural significance, representing an important facet of Syria’s intangible cultural heritage and artisanal identity.

Historically, Syrian glassblowing and related handicrafts flourished within cultural centers such as the Sulaymaniyah Tekke in Damascus, a late Ottoman architectural complex that became a marketplace for traditional handicrafts and artisans.

This venue supported the survival and transmission of ancient craftsmanship, including glassblowing, despite periods of socio-political upheaval and conflict.

Syrian craftsmen blend creativity and manual skill to produce finely shaped and color-decorated glassware using recycled glass melted at high temperatures, a process that continues to be taught within artisan families across generations.

However, the Syrian civil war and ongoing economic hardship have severely affected the traditional glassblowing sector.

Many workshops have shut down or struggled to survive due to displacement, destruction, and diminished tourism.

Despite these challenges, some artisanal centers and craftspeople are striving to maintain the tradition and transmit it to younger generations, often with limited resources and under difficult conditions.

The inscription aims to highlight the craft’s vulnerability due to factors such as the war-induced disruption, economic pressures, emigration of skilled artisans, and lack of formal support.

Syrian traditional glassblowing is a centuries-old artisanal craft with roots dating back more than 2,000 years, reportedly originating from the Phoenicians and evolving significantly throughout Syrian history, especially in regions like Damascus and Aleppo.

Title:

Content: Samples of the Damascene Literary Heritage Attend an Exhibition and Seminar in the Culture of Infection
Damascus-Sana
In the exhibition “Heritage Crafts are Inherited by the Fragrance of History ” hosted by the Adawi Cultural Center, the artworks varied between glass decoration, Damascene brocade and various handicrafts.
The exhibition was followed by an introductory seminar on these arts for the Sheikhs of Carr and craftsmen specialized in these professions under the supervision of the handicraft trainer Rowaa Yousef.
Youssef Lassana explained that the exhibition was dedicated to traditional professions in general and handicrafts, especially such as brocade, painting on glass, Islamic motifs and handicrafts to maintain their continuity and importance.
Mohammed Bassam Rayhan Sheikh Al-Karar in painting on glass and decoration spoke in his intervention about the history of this craft, its forms, fields of work and materials used in it, pointing out that the glass, which was the first to be invented by the Phoenicians, evolved in Damascus throughout history and was painted on the mishkat and lanterns using oxides and various materials, thermal colors, acrlik and others.
The Damascene brocade craftsman Mohammed Rankous explained in his intervention that this cloth is made of natural silk and golden reed yarns and attributed to Damascus because it took its character, heritage and environment, such as the painting of Omar Khayyam, the Levantine Rose, grape clusters, the lover and the beloved, and the octagonal geometric drawings, pointing out that this craft entered the cultures of different civilizations.
Nasruddin Mohammed is a graduate of applied arts and a drawing teacher who participated in paintings for his students from children and boys. In his intervention, he explained the history of the Damascene plant decoration, its methods, types and schools such as Andalusian, Persian and Damascene, and its differences in decoration, diggings, mirrors and miniatures, indicating that its history dates back to the Andalusian civilization, which was its main creativity in palaces and buildings.
Mohammed Sabha is a bridal craftsman who participated in a group of decorative glass works for brides and explained that he has completed a model of a waterfall flowing from an electric mountain that is operated by hand from cardboard, wood and cork inspired by his ideas.
Rana Ayoub participated in a group of works of three-dimensional models and miniatures of the Levant environment. She explained that she chose this environment because she grew up and lived in it and adored it. It is necessary to inform future generations of their heritage and history, pointing out that she works with cork, wood, natural materials, gypsum, ceramic paste and others.
Bilal Ahmed

Damascus, in particular, has long been a cultural hub where the craft intertwined with local artistic traditions, incorporating Islamic motifs and delicate painting techniques using oxides and thermal colors to decorate objects such as mishkats (lanterns), hookah bottles, vases, and cups.

This craft is not only valued for its aesthetic beauty but also for its cultural significance, representing an important facet of Syria’s intangible cultural heritage and artisanal identity.

Historically, Syrian glassblowing and related handicrafts flourished within cultural centers such as the Sulaymaniyah Tekke in Damascus, a late Ottoman architectural complex that became a marketplace for traditional handicrafts and artisans.

This venue supported the survival and transmission of ancient craftsmanship, including glassblowing, despite periods of socio-political upheaval and conflict.

Title:

Content: Art of glassblowing returns again in Aleppo countryside liberated from terrorism

The town of Urem Al-Kubra in Aleppo province in northern Syria has historically been famous for its skilled glassblowing craftsmen. The war considerably affected this traditional craft inherited from our ancestors, but after the liberation of the city from terrorism, some artisans have brought it back to life. The artisan, Yassin Arab learned the glassblowing craft from his father when he was a child, and after the town was liberated from terrorism, he returned to his small facility, where he worked to restore it and start working again. Arab does not hide his enormous passion for the craft of glassblowing and his belief in the need to preserve this ancient Syrian heritage. Regarding the working mechanism, the artisan explained to SANA that he uses recycled glass, melts it again in the oven at high temperature, and then chooses a specific shape for its manufacture, whether hookah bottles, vases, plates, small jugs, fish houses for decoration, decorated cups and antiques of different sizes. After that, t he piece is blown, rotated and processed by the artisan until it takes its final shape using white and brown colors, and once the manufacturing of the product is finished, it is decorated and colored to give it the required aesthetics. For his part, Hussein Najjar noted that he learned the craft of blowing glass manually since he was young and has been working in this field for 40 years. He added that he is able to make any shape or glass container, using his imagination, and considered that the art of glassblowing is one of the types of plastic arts. Traditional glassblowing is a profession that dates back more than two thousand years (since the time of the Phoenicians) and was included in December 2023 by UNESCO on the list of intangible cultural heritage of humanity that needs urgent preservation. Source: Syrian Arab News Agency

Syrian craftsmen blend creativity and manual skill to produce finely shaped and color-decorated glassware using recycled glass melted at high temperatures, a process that continues to be taught within artisan families across generations.

However, the Syrian civil war and ongoing economic hardship have severely affected the traditional glassblowing sector.

Title:

Content: Sulaymaniyah in Damascus.
Do you want to throw out your guards?
While the Ottoman Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent saw in his dream that he was in a grove in the center of the capital Damascus, the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) appeared to him and instructed him to build a mosque in that land. The Ottoman Sultan awoke from his sleep pleased with what he saw and heard. He immediately ordered to cut off a side of that grove and build a large kiosk in the middle of it. He was in a dream and pointed out.
This is the story conveyed by a number of writers and historians, the latest of which was Sheikh Najmuddin al-Ghazi in his book "The Walking Planets in the Eyes of the Tenth Hundred", about the decision of the legal sultan to build the Tekke Sulaymaniyah (west of Damascus) in the 16th century, one of the most prominent Ottoman tekaya and the most modern style and the most beautiful architecture, according to specialists.
Historically, the Tkiyet Sulaymaniyah was a place to perform religious duties and a resting place for pilgrims and a refuge for the maqtada and poor people of Damascus, Muslims and others, and remained so until the French colonizer entered the country in 1920; where General Guru and his forces took from the Tkiyet as a residence.
With the departure of colonialism and the advent of 1948, the Shari ’ ah school in Tkiyet returned to hold educational seminars and memorization of the Quran, and since the mid-seventies of the last century began to embrace dozens of shops of ancient Damascene handicrafts, and expanded this part to be known later as the market of handicrafts.
Recently, this complex cultural and religious identity of the heritage teacher has become threatened, after the Ministry of Tourism (in the government of the Syrian regime) notified professionals to vacate their shops before the end of the year under the pretext of restoration.
From Al-Ablaq Palace to Al-Tkiyet Sulaymaniyah
The site of Tkiyet Sulaymaniyah, west of Damascus, was known for the construction of a number of royal residences, the last of which was the palace of the owner of the Mamluk Sultan Baqiris (1228-1277 AD), which was named after the colors of the stones of its construction black and yellow brought from Aleppo and Daraa.
However, large parts of the palace were burned during the conquest of Damascus by the Mongol commander Tamerlane in 803 A.D. (1402 A.D.), and it was not until the Ottoman Sultan Selim I entered Damascus in 923 A.D. (1517 A.D.) that the Ablaq palace was restored and rehabilitated.
By 959 A.D. (1502 A.D.), Sultan Selim the Magnificent commissioned the famous Ottoman architect Mimar Sinan to develop a modern architectural plan for a hospice on the site of the Al-Ablaq Palace. In 960 A.D. (1553 A.D.), a large number of workers began building the hospice under the supervision of the Damascene engineer Shahabuddin ibn Al-Attar.
Then rest on the banks of the Barada River "a luxurious architectural group that captivates the hearts of the hearts with its regular domes like knots around a large main dome, surrounded by two minarets, and interspersed with gardens and trees whose beauty blends with the beauty of architecture makes this spot in Damascus one of the most beautiful and beautiful spots", the Tkiyet Sulaymaniyah, as described by Abdul Qader Rihawi in his book "Architecture in Arabic".
Ottoman architecture and Damascene motifs
The building of the Sulaymaniyah Tekke consists of two similar architectural blocks, one large and includes the mosque and the other small and includes the school, and linked between these two blocks was a market dedicated to the caravans of pilgrims, and the Ottoman engineering effects on the planning and construction, while the Damascene artistic touch overshadows the designs of doors and windows and decorations that decorate the walls and rooms of the place.
The two architectural blocks are surrounded by relatively low walls, while the middle of them are two rectangular pools fed by water vertical fountains used for ablution, and the mosque with its narrow minarets tops the southern block, while the school mosque with its smooth dome tops the eastern block, and on the sides of the blocks spread buildings are shops and narrow rooms covered with low domes interspersed with low The chimneys are shaped like minarets and are led by shady arcades with ornate arches.
The Sulaymaniyah Tikkiye market extends from its easternmost to its westernmost, and is lined with dozens of shops that were previously commercial shops, and have since the 1970s turned into handicrafts shops.
In addition to its traditional role as a place for the betters, the poor and the needy, the Sulaymaniyah Tekke was designed to be a stop for pilgrims on the pilgrimage route to Mecca, where the place was equipped with spacious kitchens, bakeries, rest rooms, several prayer rooms, a sea for ablution and other necessary services for pilgrims.
When it became a teachers ’ house in 1923, it stopped hosting guests and sheltering arrivals for the first time since its establishment four centuries ago, but soon regained its identity as a hospitable place when it hosted a number of Palestinian families displaced to Damascus following the 1948 Nakba.
While the Sulaymaniyah school was famous for receiving students of Sharia sciences from all parts of the world, before turning, with the opening of the Syrian University in Damascus in 1934, into a place to teach dentistry, and then into an archaeological landmark that includes a war museum with the continuation of religious activities in the chapels and mosque to this day.
From an incubator to a bounty hunter.
In mid-October, the Ministry of Tourism in the government of the regime warned the Karar sheikhs of craftsmen in the handicrafts market to evacuate their shops before the new year 2023 for the purpose of restoration.
Despite the appeals of the craftsmen to the concerned authorities through the local newspapers and media, and the intervention of the Damascus Chamber of Tourism to promise the craftsmen their return after the completion of the restoration operations, Nidal Mashfej, Assistant Minister of Tourism, stressed that there is no legal provision obliging the ministry to renew the contracts of craftsmen after the end of each year. Shopkeepers have the right to claim any malfunction, damage, injustice or the like, the official told the official Tishreen newspaper.
A member of the Damascus Chamber of Tourism, Arafat Oza Bashi, points out that all the shopkeepers in the Sulaymaniyah Tkiyet hope to return to their shops after the completion of the restoration, to continue their work and preserve the intangible heritage threatened with extinction.
Haj Abu Mohammed, 57 years old, owner of a shop in Tkiyet, told Al Jazeera Net, "Years ago they evacuated the glass market of Tkiyet under the pretext of restoring it, and it is still a wreck and it is not clear if it will return to a glass market, and I do not exclude that our shop has a similar fate."
"As if they were not satisfied with the stagnation of the market in the last 10 years and the absence of tourists and visitors from our shops, which the simple citizen can not buy goods from them because of their high cost, and all the losses we suffered to continue to revive these crafts during the war."
The Sulaymaniyah Tikkiye has been undergoing restoration since 2019, and the first phase aimed to restore part of the Tikkiye and what is known as the glass market, while the second phase is dedicated to the handicrafts market and some parts of the interior of the Tikkiye “to preserve the archaeological site from landings and structural cracks, ” according to Nidal Mashfaj.
Source: The Island

Many workshops have shut down or struggled to survive due to displacement, destruction, and diminished tourism.

Despite these challenges, some artisanal centers and craftspeople are striving to maintain the tradition and transmit it to younger generations, often with limited resources and under difficult conditions.

Title:

Content: Exhibition of craft products by Syrian and Russian artists in the public park in Aleppo
Halab-Sana
On the grounds of the public park in the city of Aleppo, the activities of the exhibition of craft products were launched today, with the participation of 20 craftsmen and artists from Syria and the Russian Federation.
The exhibition, organized by the Ministry of Industry in cooperation with the Russian Cultural Center in Damascus, the Federation of Artisans in Aleppo and the Syrian Professional Center Association, includes a collection of heritage and artistic works, paintings of Ajami thread, ornaments and handicrafts of wool, orphans, leather, rugs, carpets, bamboo and silver industry.
According to the President of the Union of Artisans in Aleppo, Mohammed Hossam Hallak, in a statement to SANA correspondent, the exhibition aims to highlight the traditional handicrafts and crafts and folklore professions to revive them by training the younger generations and mastering their industry to preserve them.
Mustafa al-Nu, President of the Syrian Professional Center Association, pointed out that the association worked to attract professionals and handicrafts, and provided them with financial grants to encourage them to continue their work, to preserve these crafts from extinction, in addition to training young people wishing to learn these crafts and develop them to suit the times.
The Russian artist Yuri Lishin, famous for the manufacture of blowing on glass, talked about his professionalism for more than 54 years, and his participation in many exhibitions in the world, indicating that his visit to Syria to learn about the glass industry, and participate in workshops on the manufacture of hand glass in Syria.
A number of participants noted the importance of the exhibition, which allows for the marketing of their products, where Zakaria Sultan, who works in the craft of silver and peat breaking, explained that he participates with silver and copper products and accessories made by hand in various forms for swimming pools, steadfastness, image cadres and chandeliers, in addition to grafting copper on wood, calling for providing the necessary support to maintain this profession.
The craftsman Ayman Saeed presented the results of the drawing on wood, which is called Ajami art, and stated that he learned to make this art and plant motifs and painting in Arabic calligraphy in the association, and became a trainer contributing to the revival of heritage, and that the exhibition is an important opportunity to market his products.
Artist Tala Naravyan participated in watercolor, oil and other paintings painted with pencils and charcoal, talking about the Armenian and Arab heritage and the neighborhoods of Aleppo and its citadel, pointing out that she participates to introduce people to the components of the rich Syrian heritage through painting because it constitutes the language of the world.
Samira Misto, who works in the craft of making the ancient traditional macrame, using colored threads and ropes to decorate the Koran, mirrors, clothes and jewelry, pointed out that she is working to develop this profession by adding beads and tree trunks to revive and preserve it.
Qusay Razzouk
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Look, too.
Aleppo Public Park

The inscription aims to highlight the craft’s vulnerability due to factors such as the war-induced disruption, economic pressures, emigration of skilled artisans, and lack of formal support.