Lecture 11: Anthropogenic effects

on the oceans
Atmospheric
O2
 O2
Great Oxygenation Event
Atmospheric
CO2
5
 Aim of this lecture
Study anthropogenic effects on the oceans:

1.- Increasing CO2 emissions

2.- Increasing use of fertilisers or untreated sewage
3.- Overfishing
4.- Pollution (e.g. plastic debris)

Consequences for the oceans…

 1. Increasing CO2 emissions:
1.1. The buffering effect of oceans
Oceans buffer temperature rise and CO2…
- Oceans absorb CO2 in equilibrium with atmospheric increase (cause of acidification)
- Biological activity precipitates CO2 in the form of CaCO3 (limestone) but with pH
decrease… what will happen?
- Biological activity is known to produce RDOM (and POM) that draws carbon from the
surface and sinks to the bottom of the oceans where it can remain for centuries. But
with an increase in ocean stratification (lower nutrient upwelling, less primary
productivity)… what will happen?

Environmental relevance of Carbon sequestration by the oceans

120 60 ~6

92 90
60

Microbial
2 Carbon pump

GtC per year

Office of Biological and Environmental Research of the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science.
1. Increasing CO2 emissions:
1.1. The buffering effect of oceans
Oceans buffer temperature rise and CO2…

From 1994 to 2007, anthropogenic emissions added 110 ± 8 Pg C to the

atmosphere, most of which stemmed from the burning of fossil fuels (94 ± 5 Pg C).
Of these emissions, 50 ± 1 Pg C (45%) remained in the atmosphere.
Oceans provided a sink of 34 ± 4 Pg C over this period implies that the ocean
accounts for the removal from the atmosphere of 31 ± 4% of the total
anthropogenic CO2 emissions over this time period (Science 363: 1193-1199 (2019)
…. but at a cost…
 0.1 change in pH = 30% increase in H+ ions
1. Increasing CO2 emissions: [CO2] + [H2O] ⇒[H2CO3] (carbonic acid)
[H2CO3] ⇒[H+] + [HCO3–]
1.2. Ocean acidification [H+] + [CO32–] ⇒[HCO3–] (decreases CO32-)

Drop in limestone formation (a

Calcifying organisms
sedimentary rock, composed
(e.g. Coccolithophores
and corals) struggle mainly of skeletal fragments of
to calcify (CaCO3 marine organisms such as coral,
coccoliths and foraminifera and molluscs. Its
exoskeletons). major materials are the minerals
calcite and aragonite).
1. Increasing CO2 emissions:
1.2. Ocean acidification
Reef decline…
Increasing wave energy on shorelines
 1. Increasing CO2 emissions:
1.3. Temperature increase
After denial that
warming or indeed any
climate change was
occurring… it is now
accepted measures
need to be taken…

The global temperature anomaly is the difference

between the long-term average temperature and
the temperature that is actually occurring

33

32 Sea Surface Temperature

31
Indian Ocean
30

29

28

27

26

25
J- J- J- J- J- J- J- J- J- J- J- J- J- J- J- J- J- J- J- J-
00 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 00 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90

Sheppard, C.R.C. 2003. Nature 425:294-297.

1. Increasing CO2 emissions:
1.3. Temperature increase effects
1. Sea ice loss

Loss of habitat
Unpredictable consequences
(currents, productivity…)
 1. Increasing CO2 emissions: Many joke about sea level rise
1.3. Temperature increase effects
2. Sea Level Rise
(Not only caused by partial continental
ice melt but also thermal expansion)
Bermuda Sea Level rise

7500

7400
7300

7200
7100
level

7000

6900

6800
6700

6600
1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000

date

In Bermuda:
Between 1930 - 2000 = 2 mm / yr
Last 30 yrs = 2.7 mm / yr (acceleration in recent years) Not so funny for some
Between 1870 and 2004 average rise of 195 millimetres
In 2014 the USGCRP National Climate Assessment projected that by the year 2100,
the average sea level rise will have been between one and four feet (300mm-1200mm)
 1. Increasing CO2 emissions:
1.3. Temperature increase effects
3. Higher stratification

Higher temperatures in surface seawater enhances the thermocline and

hence, less nutrient upwelling… decrease in primary productivity in
certain areas of the ocean.

Also, central gyre

systems are increasing

Polovina et al., (2008) Geophys.

Res. Letts. 35: L03618
1. Increasing CO2 emissions:
1.3. Temperature increase effects
4. Changes in currents

Changes or intensification in global currents (e.g. stronger ‘El Niño’)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WPA-KpldDVc
1. Increasing CO2 emissions:
1.3. Temperature increase effects
5. Heat content
(Not the same thing as temperature rise)
Total ocean heat content rising. Two consequences include:
•Warming in irregular patches to above species thresholds so species shift pole-
wards
•Rising Accumulated Cyclone Energy
Example: Kelp forest off the coast of Australia was destroyed and now replaced by a
less productive system, i.e. seagrass

16
1. Increasing CO2 emissions:
1.3. Temperature increase effects
6. Spawning errors (asynchrony)
•Fish in Mediterranean spawn on temperature cue
•Fish start migration patterns on temperature cue
•Their juvenile’s food is plant plankton … whose spring increase has a daylight length cue.
1. Increasing CO2 emissions:
1.3. Temperature increase effects
7. Marine diseases
Many naturally occurring micro-
organisms are present but ‘dormant’,
become pathogenic with a rise in
temperature or change in pH
2. Increasing use of fertilisers and untreated sewage:
2.1. Eutrophication

Hypoxia

- Big problem in lakes.

- Also a problem in coastal
marine systems although
the nutrients tend to
dilute.
- If chronic, it may change
the whole ecosystem and
decrease biodiversity
(thought to be a cause of
coral death)
- Colour, smell, turbidity…
not good for tourists!
2. Increasing use of fertilisers and untreated sewage:
2.2. Harmful algal blooms
- Harmful algal blooms (HABs) occur when colonies of algae
grow out of control while producing toxic or harmful
effects on people, fish, shellfish, marine mammals, and
birds.
- <1% of algal blooms produce hazardous toxins.
- Neurotoxins destroy nerve tissue affecting the nervous
system, brain, and liver, and can lead to death. Eating
shellfish containing toxins or even breathing airborne HAB
toxins may also cause problems.
- Caused by cyanobacteria, dinoflagellates and diatoms.
- Although a natural phenomenon, they are enhanced by
anthropogenic nutrients.
- Economic losses to the seafood, restaurant, and tourism
industries. Red tides

Types of HAB:
• Blue-green algae, e.g. freshwater cyanobacterium
Microcystis (toxin: microcystins)
• Red tides, mainly caused by dinoflagellates (e.g.
Karenia brevis or Alexandrium fundyense)
 3. Overfishing:
Overfishing occurs when more fish
are caught than the population can
replace through natural reproduction

• For centuries, our seas and oceans have been considered a limitless bounty of
food. However, increasing fishing efforts over the last 50 years as well as
unsustainable fishing practices are pushing many fish stocks to the point of
collapse.
• 85% of the world's fisheries have been pushed to or beyond their biological
limits and are in need of strict management plans to restore them. Sustainable
practices for food security. But… what’s the best policy?
• Target fishing of top predators (e.g. tuna and groupers) is changing marine
communities, which lead to an abundance of smaller marine species such as
sardines and anchovies.
 4. Pollution:
Pollution is anything that causes harmful, or potentially harmful, effects (even
nutrients or pesticides)
Ocean are ‘good at making pollutants disappear’… but the problem comes with
recalcitrant contaminants (those that don’t go away or degrade):
- Radioactive waste, dumped in the oceans in 50-60’s! What about Fukushima?
- Heavy metals, they don’t go away, they enter the food chain (bioaccumulation)
- Oil spills, hydrophobic, very recalcitrant, in sediments and sea surface…
destroys ecosystems
- Noise, may cause disorientation (e.g. in cetaceans) as deep sea species have no
eyes
- Plastic marine debris
4. Pollution: Marine Plastic Debris

Many studies indicating marine life

regularly encounters and ingests
plastic

Large impact on macrofauna as it

decreases the nutritional value of
ingested food
 4. Pollution: Marine Plastic Debris

Plastics help saving energy

4. Pollution: Marine Plastic Debris
Due to mismanagement 4.8 - 12.7 million metric tonnes of plastic
entered the ocean only in 2010

Jambeck et al.
2015 Science
4. Pollution: Marine Plastic Debris

Plastics are highly recalcitrant and are thought to accumulate

in the gyres for decades or even centuries…
Lecture 11: Anthropogenic effects
on the oceans
Take home messages from this lecture
- You have learned that the increase of atmospheric
CO2 has two clear physical effects on the oceans
and understood why this occurs.
- You have seen seven different effects temperature
rise has on the oceans.
- You have seen the undesired effects of increased
nutrients in marine systems.
- We have discussed some effects of overfishing and
the uncertainty of best policies.
- We have talked about anthropogenic pollution in
marine systems and introduced problems of plastic
waste
10th November and runs until 1st
February 2019 (outcome April)
 Operation Wallacea
Biodiversity Research Fieldwork Worldwide

Find out more at:

Meeting Room 2
Students’ Union

Thursday 9th November

1:00pm

University of Warwick

www.opwall.com
facebook.com/opwall