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CLIMATE AND OCEANSAuthor: Dr. Judith Weis
Sierra Club Marine Team
September, 2017
CLIMATE CHANGE
Coral bleaching
O2 levels in ocean
Migrations and movements
Sea Level Rise, Extreme Events
Ocean acidification
Coral Bleaching
FISH MOVING NORTH (EAST COAST EXAMPLES)
Lobsters in Long Island Sound and New England disappearing, more up in
Gulf of Maine and Canada
Cod unlikely to return to New England, mostly in Canada
Southern species moving up here –e.g. blue crab, sea bass, summer flounder
General warming causes a decrease in phytoplankton,
which photosynthesize and produce oxygen. In some
regions, the drop in ocean productivity often over
30%.
When top layer of ocean warms, the temperature
difference between it and layers below becomes
greater. This makes it harder for “turnover” and
reduces upwelling of nutrients to the surface, starving
the phytoplankton.
End result – less food for fishes, birds, seals etc.
SEA TURTLE DEVELOPMENT• Temperature determines
the sex of turtle embryos.
• Warmer temperatures, that lead to production of females, could result in some species becoming mostly, or entirely female (and therefore going extinct).
A rise in sea level causes 5 major physical effects:
1. Erosion of beaches and bluffs;
2. Salt-water intrusion into aquifers and surface
waters;
3. Inundation of low-lying areas;
4. Increased flooding and storm damage; and
5. Higher water tables.
These physical effects cause major biological, societal,
and economic effects.
EFFECTS ON HUMAN COMMUNITIES
Miami, Norfolk VA and other low lying areas flood regularly.
Beaches wash away, have to be “renourished” every few years. Exacerbated by building sea walls or jetties.
HUMAN RESPONSE: BUILD A SEA WALL
(WHICH MAKES THINGS WORSE!)
Most damage is caused by coastal flooding and erosion.
COASTAL STORMS – SLR & WARMER WATER MAKES THEM
MORE SEVERE
INTERTIDAL SALT MARSHES
MUST INCREASE ELEVATION,
MOVE INLAND, OR BE
SUBMERGED.
Water pools on marshes and drowns plants like
cord grass, which have adapted to being flooded
by the tides but not to being submerged over long
periods. As plants die off, they leave expanding
patches of bare ground.
LOSING GROUND: MARSHES IN RI, MA
DISINTEGRATING FASTER THAN ANYWHERE ELSE IN US
Providence Journal:
3/19/2017
Kenny Raposa of
Narragansett Bay NERR,
has spent 17 years studying
this vanishing landscape.
The loss, he says, 'is just
stunning.‘ High marsh plants
being inundated too much
INCREASE ELEVATION Spray sediment onto marsh surface – thin layer deposition.
Existing grass gets buried. Some plants grow through the sediment eventually. Some will naturally reseed the area, others will be planted.
Takes several years for marsh to recover. Not pretty for a few years.
How soon before you have to do it again?
MARSH MIGRATION INLAND• WILL THEY RUN INTO ROADS AND PARKING LOTS?
“COASTAL SQUEEZE.” NEED OPEN SPACE UPLAND
• IRONICALLY, THE INVASIVE COMMON REED,
PHRAGMITES, WHICH IS OFTEN REMOVED, INCREASES
MARSH ELEVATION, AND MAY BETTER ALLOW MARSHES
TO KEEP UP WITH SEA LEVEL.
• WHY CARE? MARSHES ARE IMPORTANT HABITAT THAT
PROTECT US FROM STORM SURGE & FLOODS
OCEAN ACIDIFICATION
Many marine animals including corals and mollusks, have calcium carbonate
shells, which weaken when the ocean gets more acidic.
Cultured larvae in Oregon oyster farms have problems making shells. OA
retards skeleton formation, speeds up erosion.
The ocean surface already 30% more acidic than before Industrial Revolution.
By the end of the century will have a 100- to 150% increase in acidity.Oyster farmers are dealing with dissolving baby oyster shells by adjusting the pH of incoming water.
pteropod
WHAT CAN YOU DO?
ELECT PEOPLE WHO TAKE CLIMATE CHANGE SERIOUSLY AND
ARE WILLING TO ACT ON IT
WHAT’S YOUR CARBON FOOTPRINT?
IS YOUR CAR A GAS –GUZZLER? NEXT TIME GET A HYBRID OR ELECTRIC
COULD YOU SET THE THERMOSTAT COOLER IN WINTER AND WARMER IN
SUMMER?
DO YOU HAVE SOLAR PANELS ON THE ROOF?
HOW MUCH MEAT (ESP. BEEF) DO YOU EAT?
IF YOU CAN STILL HAVE CHILDREN, HAVE FEWER