Article Title: The Dangers of Ocean Acidification Author/Source: Scott C.

Doney/Scientific America A: List the major ideas, concepts or key points- point by point In 1956, Roger Revelle and Hans Suess pointed out a need to measure carbon dioxide levels and predict how it would change the climate today Air bubbles in ice cores showed that the atmospheric concentration of CO2 was constant for several thousand years but began to grow rapidly with industrialization in the 1800s This gas is now about 30 percent more abundant than it was a few hundred years ago Most of the CO2 in the atmosphere is there because of the burning of fossil fuels coal, oil and natural gas The ocean has absorbed fully half of all the fossil carbon released to the atmosphere since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution 40 percent of the carbon dioxide derived from fossil fuel remains in the atmosphere Absorbed CO2 forms carbonic acid in seawater, lowering the prevailing pH level (which is slightly alkaline) and changing the balance of carbonate and bicarbonate ions Carbon dioxide (CO2) combines with water to form carbonic acid (H2CO3), the same weak acid found in carbonated beverages A drop by one pH unit corresponds to a 10-fold increase in the concentration of hydrogen ions, making the water more acidic, whereas a change of one unit upward corresponds to a 10-fold decrease, making the water more alkaline. Some of the most abundant life forms that could be affected in this way are a type of phytoplankton called coccolithophorids, which are covered with small plates of calcium

carbonate and are commonly found floating near the surface of the ocean (use abundant sunlight for photosynthesis) Other important are planktonic and pteropods These tiny creatures constitute a major food source for fish and marine mammals Corals and other calcifying marine organism could be affected by acidification, their shells might actually disintegrate As the ocean becomes more and more acidic, the upper, shell-friendly portion will become thinner. Calcium carbonate comes in 2 forms: calcite and aragonite Cold waters are called unsaturated Warm waters are called supersaturated CO2 cause saturation horizon or aragonite and calcite to move closer to surface The concern of many scientists today is that the current episode of acidification is taking place more rapidly than anything that has transpired in the past, leaving oceanic species no time to adapt.

B: Summarize the AUTHORs main point or idea- at LEAST 1-2 paragraphs The ocean is more acidic today because of the CO2; CO2 harms the entire ocean and even the marine life. Most of the CO2 in the atmosphere is from burning of fossil fuels coal, oil and natural gas. This acidity also affect the marine organism, it make dissolving shells that plankton needs to grow. Corals and other calcifying marine organism could be affected by acidification, their shells might actually disintegrate.

C: Write a reaction paragraph to the article stating your own thoughts on the topic, using specific citations from the article to support your views As the ocean becomes more and more acidic, the upper, shell-friendly portion will become thinner, the author showed how the acidic ocean affected the shellfish. Through this article, I learned that the CO2 is really dangerous and harmful for the ocean, it makes ocean more and more acidic, and the marine organism will no longer survive under the acidic water. I believe that if all the companies in the world reduced CO2, then we can save our ocean, save our marine organism, and especially the phytoplankton. As in the article, the author showed that phytoplankton keeps the ocean more cleanly, so that the fishes will not able to survive without them. We should know what we are doing to the ocean and our environment, and change our mind when its not too late.