National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Effort in Combating Ocean Acidification
Industrial revolution in the last two centuries has completely changed the Earth’s environment. This can be attributed to, increase in the rate of deforestation, higher consumption of fossil fuels and incessant rise of emission levels that has led to higher concentration of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere. It has been well established that CO2 is responsible for global warming and its effect is well documented all over the world. Research has shown that CO2 is also responsible for acidification of oceans. Oceans are good absorbers of CO2 as these are capable of absorbing 30 per cent of the CO2 released in the atmosphere. As CO2 gets absorbed by sea water, series of chemical reactions take place which increase the concentration of hydrogen ions and make sea water more acidic and further cause decrease in carbon ions (NOAA, 2013). Such changes in the ocean chemistry is bound to cause deep impact to the variety of species in it. Ther...