Lethal Seas Quizlet

What percent of the ocean floor is covered by coral reefs? (11:38)

1% of the ocean floor is covered by coral reefs

Which type of change the most damaging: gradual change or rapid change? (30:25)

Rapid

What is the current rate of coral reef loss? (50:28)

Rising ocean acidity is contributing to a loss of over 1-2% of the ocean's coral reefs every year, and the rate is accelerating. Rising ocean temperatures killed about 14% of the world's coral reefs in just under a decade. An area the size of Australia's Great Barrier Reef is disappearing forever every decade.

Why is the coral reef in Papua, New Guinea so interesting to scientists? (14:35)

Acidity levels are so high, this reef reflects what could happen in 50-100 years around the globe

What percent of all species in the sea live in coral reefs? (2:05)

25% of all species live on coral reefs

How much of this gas (in metric tons) is being released into the atmosphere each day? (8:33)

30 million metric tons of CO2 per day

What has happened to species diversity on the low pH/high acidity reef in Papua, New Guinea? (23:24)

30% less biodiversity where acidity was increased

Over the past 40 years, how much has the acidity of the ocean increased each decade? (7:00)

5%

Worldwide, how many people rely on coral reefs for food and survival? (11:47) (31:38)

500,000,000 (Half a billion people)

(29:52) The most famous extinction was 65-million years ago, when the dinosaurs disappeared. But an even bigger catastrophe hit the oceans ____________-million years ago, when the Permian Era ended. The leading theory is that massive volcanic eruptions caused carbon dioxide levels to spike quickly. The result was what's now known as the "Great Dying," when up to _______________ (30:17) percent of all marine life went extinct, including many coral reefs.

65, 95

What are pteropods? (25:41)

Almost transparent sea snails that swarm in vast numbers in the colder waters of the Arctic and the Antarctic oceans

Coral reefs form from the skeletons of coral over thousands of years. What do corals use to make their skeletons? And therefore what are the coral reefs made out of? (12:07)

Calcium carbonate, also known as limestone, CaCO3

What gas is causing the increase in acidity of ocean water? (7:21)

Carbon dioxide, CO2

When this CO2 is dissolved in water, what acid does it form? (8:52)

Carbonic acid, H₂CO₃

What do fish use coral for? (20:05)

Shelter from storms, mating, feeding, hiding.

Which absorbs more CO2, cold water or warm water? (24:49)

Cold water

What impact does this acid have on shells composed of calcium carbonate? (10:00)

Hydrogen ions react with carbonate, which makes carbonate unavailable to shelled organisms

How has the spiky sea urchin adapted to more acidic ocean water? (41:47)

It changed its gene expression for creating the exoskeleton, turning on more genes

What is causing the damage to the baby oyster's shells? (5:04)

Low pH/high acidity of the water

How many baby corals grew on the plates from the bubble site with high acidity in Papua New Guinea? (49:00)

No coral recruits were able to grow on the tiles, a very bad sign for what may happen in the future with increasingly acidic oceans.

WHY do sea grasses tend to grow more in high CO2 environments? (38:40)

Plants can use the carbon dioxide for photosynthesis

What type of corals now dominate this low pH/high acidity reef in Papua, New Guinea? (17:26)

Porites corals with thick, hard skins

Where are pteropods in the ocean food chain? (25:56)

Primary consumers, the base of the food chain; the rest of the food chain depends on them.

What are the "potato chips" of the sea? (26:08)

Pteropods

What is happening to pteropods which form the bottom of the food chain in polar seas? (25:54)

Pteropods are 35% percent smaller and more fragile, meaning they are struggling to survive.

What has happened to small species on this low pH/high acidity reef in Papua, New Guinea? (23:52)

Small species have also decreased by 30%

How did the commercial oyster growers in this one bay resolve this problem? (6:01)

Soda ash was added to the tanks to raise the pH

Of the reefs in this film, where is the reef biodiversity the best? (23:12)

The control site at the normal reef (where pH and acidity are normal)

How were fish damaged by living in high CO2 environments? (32:58)

The damage was to their brain chemistry and behavior; they would swim towards predators instead of away, and leave the protection of the reef instead of hiding in the reef.

What do the coral sync their breeding cycles with? (46:43)

The lunar cycle

Carbon dioxide, CO2, is a greenhouse gas. Without greenhouse gases to trap heat in our atmosphere our planet would be too cold to support life as we know it. However in recent decades average global temperatures have been rising due release of too much CO2 released into the atmosphere relative to level of CO2 absorbed by plants and water. Approximately _________________ (7:38) of the CO2 released into our atmosphere dissolves into the ocean

a quarter, 25%

Think about it: Based on these studies, what is the general outlook for life in the sea in the future? (extend your thinking based on the video)

The outlook is grim. Marine food chains are facing a sixth mass extinction by 2100 as acidity rises to over 100% of previous levels, temperatures increase, and anoxic dead zones. Coral reefs will be devastated by rising temperatures, runoff, and increasing acidity leading to increased bleaching events and inability to recover, possibly even dissolving the reefs themselves into increasingly acidic, anoxic oceans. Increasing ocean acidification and rising sea temperatures place the health of the ocean and of the people who depend on it at high risk.

Tests revealed that the acidity of the bay water was 6 times ______________ than normal sea water. (5:32)

higher

What is the worst case scenario? (28:37)

The pteropods will die off, removing the base of the food chain, resulting in a chain reaction of extinctions, resulting in mass die-offs throughout the oceans

What is happening in the Pacific oysters today? (3:52, 4:05)

The tiny oyster larvae are dying/dissolving in the water.

What impact has higher levels of carbon dioxide had on sea grasses? (38:35)

They thrive in higher CO2 environments.

What is causing the bubbles at the acidic reef site? (13:45)

Volcanic activity

Carbonic acid almost immediately breaks apart, releasing hydrogen __________, H+ . (9:00) Those are hydrogen atoms stripped of their electron.

ions

This is what increases the water's ______________________.(9:09) The more H+ ions, the more acidity.

acidity

It appears that changes in acidity aren't just affecting the corals themselves but hundreds of species living at the ______________ of the food chain. And if those at the base of the food chain are at risk, so are all the creatures that rely on them for survival. (24:26)

base

When acidity rises and there are lots more hydrogen _______________ (10:01) floating around, they react with ____________________, taking away this essential molecule.

ions, carbonate

The increase acidity has been linked with the increase in atmospheric levels of _______________ gas. (7:21)

carbon dioxide

It's not just oysters that need carbonate to survive. The changing _____________________ (10:33) of the ocean threatens all kinds of shelled creatures and the ecosystems that depend on them.

chemistry

What kind of gas is bubbling out of the ground at this reef? (13:51)

pure CO2

Without enough carbonate in the water, the baby oysters simply can't build their _____________, and as a result, they die. (10:20)

shells

As pH goes down and acidity goes up, the number of species _______________ dramatically. (23:28)

decreases

In order for the baby oysters to develop properly it was necessary to add ____________(6:01) a common water softener, which neutralized the excess acid and _________________ (6:04)the acidity to back normal levels. This procedure allowed the baby oysters to develop sufficiently to be reintroduced into the bay, but it's expensive.

soda ash, lowers

Katharina Fabricius: "There's no way to save coral reefs without stopping greenhouse gas ____________ . There is absolutely no practical solution to protect coral reefs from warming and from ocean acidification if you don't stop ______________ emissions in the world." (51:14)

emissions, CO2

The worst possible scenario would involve a chain reaction of ________________, resulting in mass _______________ throughout the oceans. (28:37)

extinctions, die-offs