Changing Ocean Acidity: How It Will Affect Tampa’s Beaches
Climate change is not only a possibility, but it is our current reality. The change in our climate is directly affecting our oceans which make up 75 of our planet. Human activities have increased the uptake of carbon dioxide in our atmosphere thereby increasing the acidity of the ocean. The increase of acidity in our oceans affects the growth and reproduction rates of fish, reduces the calcium carbonate in the water which some marine life rely on to produce their hard skeletons, and ultimately leads to less diversity of aquatic life.
So what does this mean for Tampa’s beaches? Since Tampa Bay serves as a perfect refuge for crustaceans, the increase in acidity will be intolerable for these creatures. Some scientists predict that within 50 years, these marine animals will simply become extinct. Residents and tourists alike will no longer be able to stroll up and down the beautiful shoreline of Tampa to collect shells because they will have disintegrated. If these crustaceans cease to exist, the entire food web becomes weaker causing ripples up the food chain which will cause the extinction of all marine life, directly affecting the way of life in Tampa. To reverse this process and ensure the marine life species and our own, we must begin to fix our mistakes by reducing our carbon dioxide emissions which will ensure that the acidity of our oceans does not reach this critical level.