Increasing Ocean Acidification Threatens Marine Life

The increasing ocean acidification threatens marine life in known and unknown ways. The oceans are acidifying at the fastest rate in many millions of years. The absorption of CO2 by water causes acidification. This is a natural process, which forms carbonic acid (H2CO3). The breakdown of the carbonic acid results in the reduction of carbonate ions (CO3(2-)). To make a […]

Oceanic Garbage Patches – Great and Small

The Great Pacific Garbage Patch (GPGP) is the best known and largest of the oceanic garbage patches but it is not the only one. Garbage patches are formed in what is called a gyre, a place where ocean currents naturally form rotating areas of water. These currents “suck” in floating and submerged debris, causing large accumulations of junk, mostly made […]

The Earth’s Oceans are in Trouble

The Earth’s oceans are in trouble, in large part due to actions made by humankind. The human species has been using the oceans as a food source and a garbage dump for millennia. These direct misuses have taken their toll, but now, global warming is adding new factors to the equation. Four of the main problems facing the world’s oceans […]