Slide 1Slide 2Slide 3Slide 4Slide 5Slide 6Slide 7Slide 8Slide 9Slide 10Slide 11Slide 12Slide 13Slide 14Slide 15•Introduction to Marine Environmental Issues•Natural and Man-made Marine Pollutants•Impact of Disturbed Habitats on Organisms Prosperity•Human Activity and Global Oceanic ChangeChapter 18: The Ocean and The EnvironmentHuman Impact on the world Ocean:17 data sets: shipping, fishing, pollution, invasive species, temperature change, UV light changes, and ocean acidification human consumption exceeds Earth’s natural replacement capacity by at least 20%Marine Pollutants: Natural & Human-GeneratedMarine pollution is the introduction into the ocean by humans of substances or energy that changes the quality of the water or affects the physical, chemical, or biological environment.•Impacts may be acute or chronic•Organism response will depend on sensitivity to the combination of quantity and toxicity of the pollutant•Pollutants also vary in their persistence (oil spills, long term atmospheric changes etc.)OilNatural Oil seeps ~= anthropogenic inputRemediation/cleanup techniques are often more environmentally damagingAverage Annual Releases of Petroleum (1990-1999)Thousands of Metric Tons/yr•Chlorinated hydrocarbons (pesticides, solvents) DDTNY (women of childbearing age should limit intake of bluefish)•Biological Amplification: concentration builds up the trophic levels•Heavy Metals: toxic in small quantities, mercury, lead, copper, tin•Minamata disease (ingestion of mercury rich shellfish: kidney damage, neuromuscular deterioration, birth defects, insanity and death)Synthetic Organic Chemicals & Heavy Metals•Eutrophication: a set of physical, chemical and biological changes that take place when excessive nutrients are released into the water (CSOs, runoff after heavy rains (fertilizer))•Hypoxia: low dissolved oxygen levels (decomposition of algae/plankton after a bloom consumes oxygen)Eutrophication and HypoxiaLittle Gasparrilla Island, FLHypoxic water invades the Gulf of MexicoPlastics: Trash IslandsInvasive Species: •Travel in ship ballast water•Outcompete native speciesPhragmitesCoral BleachingDuring warm temperatures: corals expel the zooxanthellae (symbiotic dinoflagellates) from their tissueCaribbean and tropical Pacific have shown sensitivity of 1o C (1.8oF) above normal summer high temperaturesOcean AcidificationCould be more threatening to biology of this planet than global warmingpH has fallen 0.025 units since 1990pH has fallen .1 units since pre-industrial eraGlobal average of 7.7 by 2100Calcifiers will be most sensativeDobson Unit: is a measure of the total ozone in a column of air from surface to space, baseline value is 220.OzoneAntarctic Ozone hole permits more UV radiation to reach the ocean•1990 Observations: 6-12% drop in phytoplankton productivity in the region influenced by the hole which lasted 10-12 weeks•Levels will be lowest (worst) between 2010 and 2019•Recovery to pre-1980 levels by 2055Ocean WarmingGreatest changes at mid-high latitudes Thermal expansion, rising sea levelsDecrease in dissolved gassesAnomalies relative to long-term averageSpecies