BrandonKinard

SPResearchPaper
Oceanacidificationaffectslocaleconomies,foodmarketswhichultimatelyaffectus
individualsandcommunitieswhichareinterconnectedwithourenvironment.Withtheincrease
ofoceanacidification,ouroceansareslowlybeingpoisoned.Oceanacidificationmakesit
increasinglydifficultforcrustaceanstodevelopwithsolidshells,anditcausesspeciesinhibiting
boundariessuchasdecreaseinfoodsourcewhichinturn,affectshumans.Theseproblemscause
metourgeyoutoseetheimportanceintakingeventhesmalleststepsinoceanawarenessand
oceanacidificationalleviation.
Theoceanplaysanimportantroleinregulatingtheamountofcarbondioxideinthe
atmosphere.Asatmosphericconcentrationsofcarbondioxiderise,theoceanabsorbsmore
carbondioxide.Becauseoftheslowmixingtimebetweensurfacewatersanddeeperwaters,it
cantakehundredstothousandsofyearstoestablishthisbalance.Overthepast250years,oceans
haveabsorbedapproximately40percentofthecarbondioxideproducedbyhumanactivities.
Althoughtheoceansabilitytotakeupcarbondioxidepreventsatmosphericlevelsfrom
climbingevenhigher,risinglevelsofcarbondioxidedissolvedintheoceancanhaveanegative
effectonmarinelife.Theresultingincreaseinacidity(measuredbylowerpHvalues)reduces
theavailabilityofmineralssuchasaragonite,whichisaformofcalciumcarbonatethatcorals,
sometypesofplankton,andothercreaturesrelyontoproducetheirhardskeletonsandshells.
DecliningpHandreducedavailabilityofmineralscanmakeitmoredifficultfortheseanimalsto
thrive.Thiscanleadtobroaderchangesintheoverallstructureofoceanandcoastalecosystems,
andcanultimatelyaffectfishpopulationsandthepeoplewhodependonthem.Whilechangesin

oceanpHandmineralavailabilitycausedbytheuptakeofatmosphericcarbondioxidegenerally
occurovermanydecades,thesepropertiescanfluctuateovershorterperiods,especiallyin
coastalandsurfacewaters.Forexample,increasedphotosynthesisandrespirationduringtheday
andduringthesummerleadstonaturalfluctuationsinpH.Acidityalsovarieswithwater
temperature.
Healthycoralreefsareamongthemostbiologicallydiverseandeconomicallyvaluable
ecosystemsonearth,providingvaluableandvitalecosystemservices.Coralecosystemsarea
sourceoffoodformillionsprotectcoastlinesfromstormsanderosionprovidehabitat,
spawningandnurserygroundsforeconomicallyimportantfishspeciesprovidejobsandincome
tolocaleconomiesfromfishing,recreation,andtourismareasourceofnewmedicines,andare
hotspotsofmarinebiodiversity.Theyalsoareofgreatculturalimportanceinmanyregions
aroundtheworld,particularlyPolynesia.IntheUS,coralreefsarefoundinthewatersofthe
WesternAtlanticandCaribbean(Florida,PuertoRico,andtheUSVirginIslands)andthePacific
Islands(Hawaii,Guam,AmericanSamoa,andtheCommonwealthoftheNorthernMariana
Islands).Theyarealsofoundalongthecoastsofover100othercountries.Whileitisdifficultto
putadollarvalueonsomeofthebenefitscoralecosystemsprovide,onerecentestimategavethe
totalnetbenefitoftheworld'scoralreefecosystemstobe$29.8billion/year.Forexample,the
economicimportanceofHawai`i'scoralreefs,whencombiningrecreational,amenity,fishery,
andbiodiversityvalues,wereestimatedtohavedirecteconomicbenefitsof$360million/year.
Yetcoralreefsareindeclineduetoanincreasingarrayof
threats
primarilyfromglobalclimate
change,unsustainablefishingimpacts,andlandbasedpollution.AccordingtotheStatusof
CoralReefsoftheWorld:2008,19percentoftheworld'sreefsareeffectivelylost,15percent

areseriouslythreatenedwithlossinthenext1020years,and20percentareunderthreatofloss
inthenext2040years.Thedeclineandlossofcoralreefshavesignificantsocial,cultural,
economic,andecologicalimpactsonpeopleandcommunitiesintheUSandaroundtheworld.
However,witheffectiveleadershipandmanagement,healthy,resilientreefecosystemscan
continuetoprovidethesevaluableservicestocurrentandfuturegenerations.Scientistsaround
theworldhavebeenworkingtodocumentandnamethespeciesoccurringonEarthforover250
yearsinthattimeover1.5millionspecieshavebeenidentified.However,evenconservative
estimateshintthat90percentofthelifeformsonEarthhaveyettobediscoveredordescribed.
Alarmingratesofextinction,primarilyduetohumanimpacts,putusinaraceagainsttimeto
discoverspeciesintimetosavethem.Coralecosystemsarenodifferentnewdiscoveriesof
speciesassociatedwithcoralecosystemsaredocumentedeachyear,butuntoldnumbersofother
speciesbecomeextinctbeforescienceevenknowstheyexist.Coralecosystemsaredegrading
duetoanumberofthreatsdespitethehardworkofmanytobringlighttothevalueandplightof
theworld'scoralecosystems.
ArgoBuoytracksmeasuresthetemperatureandsalinityoftheupper2000mofthe
ocean.SystemconsistsofSatelliteAntenna,profilingmodule,temperatureprobe,cicuitboards
&satelitetransmitter,stabilitydisk,foamsupport,gearmoto,singlestrokepump,battery,
hydraulicpump,hydraulicfluid,hydraulicbladder.Thefloatshaveapressurecasemadeof
aluminiumthatisabout1.3mlongandabout20cmdiameter.Theyweighabout40kg.Onthe
topisanantennatocommunicatewiththesatellitesthatfixthefloat'spositionandreceivethe
data.Alsoonthetoparethetemperatureandsalinitysensors.Atthebottomofthefloatina
protectivecoverisabladderthatisconnectedtotheinsideofthefloat.Thefloatsaredesigned

sothatwiththebladderemptytheyhavethesamedensityasseawateratthedepthatwhichthey
drift.Theyarealsodesignedtobelesscompressiblethanseawater.Thiskeepsthemstableat
depth.Thefloatsareputintheoceanfromshipsoraircraftandsinktodepth.After10daysoil
ispumpedintothebladderanddrivesthefloattothesurface.Atthesurfaceitispositionedby
satellitesanddownloadsitstemperature/salinityprofile.Thebladderthendeflatesandthefloat
sinksbacktodepthtorepeatthecycle.ThetemperaturesintheArgoprofilesareaccurateto
0.005Canddepthsareaccurateto5m.Forsalinity,therearetwoanswers.Thedatadelivered
inrealtimearesometimesaffectedbysensordrift.Formanyfloatsthisdriftissmall,andthe
uncorrectedsalinitiesareaccurateto.01psu.Atalaterstage,salinitiesarecorrectedbyexpert
examination,comparingolderfloatswithnewlydeployedinstrumentsandwithshipbaseddata.
Followingthisdelayedmodecorrection,salinityerrorsarereducedfurtherandinmostcasesthe
databecomegoodenoughtodetectsubtleoceanchange.Eachfloatcostsabout$15,000USD
andthiscostaboutdoubleswhenthecostofhandlingthedataandrunningtheprojectistaken
intoaccount.Thearrayhasroughly3000floatsandtomaintainthearray,800floatswillneedto
bedeployedeachyear.Thustheapproximatecostoftheprojectis800x$30,000=$24mper
year.Thatmakesthecostofeachprofilearound$200.28countrieshavecontributedfloatsto
thearraywiththeUSAprovidingabouthalfthefloats.Floatshavelifespanofthreetofouryear.
Withtheseeffortscurrentlyknowninthefield,theCoralReefEcosystemDivision(CRED),also
hasplanstocreatetheirowndevicetotakemeasurementsoftheocean.CREDcollectswater
samplesandanalyzesthosesamplesforTotalCarbon(dissolvedinorganiccarbon(DIC))and
TotalAlkalinity(TA).Thesetwoparameters,alongwithtemperature,pressure,andsalinity
measurements,canbeusedtocalculatepHandotherparameterswithinthecarbonatesystem.If

youmeasuretwoofthefollowingfourparameters,youcancalculatethecarbonatesystem.
ThosefourareDIC,TA,partialpressureofCO2(pCO2),orpH.Theymeasurenearreefwater
samplesatapproximately15mdepth.Dependingonthebathymetryaroundeachisland,15m
deepwatermaybeatthatisland'sedgeormaybe100'sofmetersoffshore.Foreachnearreef
sample,theyalsocollectwaterfromthesurface,directlyabovethecoralreefwherewesampled
at15mdepth.Thytakesurfacesamplesapproximately1kmoffshorefromthe15mdeepsurvey
sitetotryandgetawayfromanyland/reefsignalinthewatersample.So,iftheyweretoleavea
pHsensor,colocatedwithotherinstrumentsCREDuses,thenalifespanfortheirproductwould
bethreeyearshopefully).Ifweweretodesignaninstrumentthatwecouldmountonthetwo
boards(whichisthatideawediscussedwithMikeandothers),thenwe'donlyneedthepH
sensortobestableforoneday,morelike12hoursthiswouldfavourable.Ifmountedonatow
board,eachnightthesensorcouldbebroughtbacktotheshipandcalibrated.Themorestable
aninstrumentit,thebetteroffitwouldbe.Temperatureisaveryeasyandstablemeasurement
foraninstrumenttomakeandcurrentsaremeasuredwithburstsofsound.Thesemeasurement
methodologiesareproventechnologiesandpHisjustgettingtowhereinstrumentscanbe
accurateenoughthatscientistsfeelliketheycanleavethemoutintheoceanforafewmonthsat
atimebutnonethelesstheinterestinadevicethatobtainsthesenumberswouldbeappreciated.
Inadditiontonewtechbeingdeveloped,a
UniversityofWashingtoncenter
ishelping
shellfishgrowerskeeptabsonwaterqualityanddevelopmoresophisticatedsystemstowarn
thembeforemarinecurrentsfloodthemwithseawaterdeadlytobabyoysters.Thisisjustone
steptakenbylocalcommunitiestohelptheenvironment.Furthereffortswouldalsobe
appreciatediftheycouldbetaken.Thiscouldincludestepssuchasorganizingralistoraise

awarenessandcontinuingtopushtheselocalefforts.Allofthesetasksnonethelesswillaidin
helpingcommunitiescopewiththedamagethatisbroughtaboutbyoceanacidificationandaid
thosewhoarebeingaffectedwhereaspoliticiansandotherofficialsneglectthem.
"Peoplewanttogetsomemagicpayofffromaresearchprogramwithoutactuallypaying
fortheresearchprogram,"saysclimatemodelerKenCaldeiraoftheCarnegieInstitution's
DepartmentofGlobalEcologyatStanfordUniversity,whohasworkedonsomeoftheinitial
modelsforthe
impactsofoceanacidification
,notingthatthefundsdevotedtosuchsensor
researchhavetocomefromsomewhere."Weknowwhatweneedtodotoprotectouroceans,
andthatis:stopusingtheatmosphereandoceansasawastedump.MeasuringpHallowsusto
documenttheocean'sdeclinebutislargelyirrelevanttosavingtheocean."Thisideaisbeing
overlookedsignificantlybutitistrue.Noimprovementswillbemadeunlesswecanalso
acknowledgethisfactsowhileitispivotaltoourcommunitiestoprovidesupporttothosebeing
affectwemustalsousethenumbersthatwecollectfromprogramssuchasargoinordertostop
addingontotheproblemthatwearecurrentlyrecordingandnext,figureoutasolution.A
solutionthatworksandispublicizedsothatwecanavoidtheconfusionthatispresentamongst
somepoliticianssuchasBairdwho,whenaskedtodealwithoceanacidificationviaincreased
fundingtowardresearchinthearea,confusedsouringseaswithacidrain,andasked,Didntwe
dealwiththat20yearsago?No.Wedidnotdealwiththat20yearsagoandthispublic
ignoranceisjustonemorethingthatwemustclearupaswecollectdata,raiseawarenessand
supportthosewhoareaffect,andbegintotakestepstowardfixingthisproblem.
Soinconclusionwhilesomesaythatoceanacidificationisaresolvedissue,orthatwe
dontknowenoughtoeffectivelysolvetheproblem,Ihavetodisagree.Stronglydisagree.We

maynotknowenoughandmayneverknowenoughifourcurrentmindsetisthatweneeddata
beforegettingdataandifgovernmentstandsinthewayofresearchthenwewillhavefailedbut
withlocalefforts,designingmeasurementsdevicesandbyrememberingallthatisontheline
oceanacidificationcanberesolved.Thedurationoftheprocessmaybeunknownbutprogress
willleadintorevelationsandthoserevelationswiththeworldbehindthemwillmakeour
oceansastrongerenvironmenttosupportoureconomiesanddevelopingcultures.