Science - Ocean acidification and acid rain

Acids And bases

What is an acid?

A substance that can eat away at something eg, metal, wood, skin. There are two types of acids, organic acid which includes lemons, vinegar etc. And mineral acid which include chemicals and are usually a lot stronger than organic acids.

Ocean acidification link:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1dMT6IF2tiTheTYE_qFg0Kc8Os7gPtS8s0PYH4gtlq_g/edit

Ocean Acidification

Name: Zoe

Questions

• How have humans contributed to ocean acidification?

Carbon Dioxide (is being produced by humans factors and is being sucked up by the ocean) and pollution (litter, great pasific garbage patch)

• How is ocean acidification affecting organisms in the ocean?

Warmer water and toxic algae are a potent mix, and together they will create larger and more frequent dead zones throughout the ocean. These are areas where decomposing algae cause bacteria to eat up all the oxygen in the water, rendering it uninhabitable for sea life

• Why is the rate of ocean acidification alarming to scientists?

Sea life is in is being affected and may go extinct if not fixed. Less oxygen for sea life

• What can you do to reduce the effects of ocean acidification?

Watch what you pour down the drain and use eco-friendly products that break down. Remember often what goes down the drain ends up in rivers and lakes, which all filter into our oceans. Reduce your plastic addiction.

• Find a suitable line graph from a source NOT listed here, that shows ocean acidification over time. You MUST be able to understand it yourself! The graph should be simple enough for everyone in the class to understand.  Copy and paste it here.

• You can do this task in a group of 2 or 3 if you like. Everyone must have it written down though.
  How could we do an experiment in our classroom that investigates the effects of acidity on shellfish and coral? (Hint: both are made from calcium carbonate, what could we use to model/instead of their shells? Google!)

Sponge , shells, Sand , mussels ,vinegar , egg shell, lemon ,. OR http://web.uri.edu/smile/files/Shells-in-Acid-LAB1.pdf

Design a small experiment that would give use more evidence for the dangers of ocean acidification on these animals. What would you need, what would you do, and what would any results tell you? (I will pick a few of the best explained experiments for us to actually do in class)  You can include images if you like.

Blow into a test tube and see how acidic carbon dioxide is

Put smoke or other fumes into the water and see how acidic it is by putting special luquid that can tell us if it is a base or acid.

OVERARCHING QUESTION

pH and ocean acidification

The world’s oceans currently absorb as much as one-third of all CO2 emissions in our atmosphere. This causes the pH to decrease, resulting in the ocean becoming more acidic. This could have significant impacts on life in the sea. It is difficult to predict the overall impact on the marine ecosystem, but many scientists fear that ocean acidification has the potential to decrease marine biodiversity on a very large scale.

Is there anything we can do to reduce ocean acidification?

In order to cope and be resilient as best we can with climate change humans need to be able to adapt our lifestyles, thinking and perhaps values. We need to think about and act on ways to mitigate (reduce, lessen, alleviate) consequences of global warming, such as climate change, and adapt to current and predicted effects. Central government, local government, business and all citizens (households) are stakeholders in making these changes.

As a group discuss your evidence and brainstorm ways we could adapt and mitigate against the effects of global warming and climate change.

For each stakeholder group think about what action could be taken to mitigate and adapt to the expected effects.

Stakeholder	Ways they could mitigate ocean acidification
Central government	Could change the way we use energy, instead of using cole/fossil fuels use wind power or solar power. - By banding types of cars that are using to much petrol, and adding more busses for transport around town etc.
Local government	Have a day of when everyone from town cleans up a part of town, beach etc.
Business	Have a day where people can go to schools and take kids to help tidy the town, a park etc. You could also teach the kids why we are doing it and how its affecting the environment, by showing them/ taking them on walks in a park and show how it has changed over the years.
Citizens/households	Use fabric bags instead of getting plastic bags every time we go to the supermarket. Ior by trying to go trash free.

Resources:

http://www.reefresilience.org/coral-reefs/management-strategies/managing-for-ocean-acidification/ Some ideas for mitigation are listed in the blue box, labelled HAWAII

https://www.nrdc.org/sites/default/files/safeguarding.pdf  A factsheet with some recommendations for mitigation, numbered at the end.

http://e360.yale.edu/features/kelp_seagrass_slow_ocean_acidification_netarts A blog post (it’s quite long, but you could just read the title, description, and the quotes in pink/red)

https://psmag.com/environment/how-battle-ocean-acidification-83489 American-based, but the bullet-points are easy to read and a good summary of ideas.

http://climateinterpreter.org/sites/default/files/resources/ocean_acid2_NMS.pdf designed like a slide show, read only pages 25-30.


Today we did an experiment for acidification and how shell fish were being effected.
first: collect all the data you will need (weight/volume etc.)
we got three beacers and filled them both with 100 mls of water.
we put a table spoon of salt in one of the beacers, representing sea water.
in the second beacer we put an extra table spoon of water.
In the last beacer we put a table spoon of vingur representing acidificaton waters.
After leaving the shells in the beacers with the water etc for a couple of days, we then wrote down our data, that we needed (the weight and volume of the shell). Then we decided the smash them and see how strong/ weak they were.
We found out that the shell in the vinugur was whiter and alot weaker than the other two.


Acid Rain

How is acid rain formed and what causes acid rain?
Acid rain is caused by a chemical reaction that begins when compounds like sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides are released into the air. These can include, fossil fuels, volcanic eruption etc. These substances can rise very high into the atmosphere, where they mix and react with water, oxygen, (for example, rain and dust)and other chemicals to form more acidic pollutants, known as acid rain. - Link Here

What this effects?
acid rain can effect the ocean (ocean acidification), lakes, river, forests,  the dirt and soil, and some buildings and statues etc.

Where is acid rain effected?
Sulphur dioxide can cause acid rain which seriously affects ecosystems. Acid rainis a major problem in the northern hemisphere where trees and whole forests have been affected. Acid rain does not occur in New Zealand, because they dont burn many or hardly any fossil fuels. However, sulphur dioxide deposition can affect vegetation around industrial discharges and in cities.link here

Whats in common?
Ocean acidifcation and acid rain both have something in common, the main thing that is making things acidic is mainly caused because factory's are burning fossil fuels releasing acidic molecules into the air which gets into the rain, ocean and earth/soil.