It’s not just plastics that are a threat to our Oceans…
As part of the water cycle, our oceans regulate the amount of carbon in our atmosphere. You might have heard forests referred to as ‘the lungs of the earth’ (and they are very important), but the oceans store 16 times more carbon than terrestrial ecosystems, around 30% of carbon dioxide from human activity.
If too much carbon dioxide is stored in the ocean we see something called ocean acidification. But what is ocean acidification? And how does it affect our oceans?
Here, we will discover the science behind ocean acidification and how you can create an easy, and very cool, experiment at home turning red cabbage…
From this…
To this!
The Science
The Experiment
Find out more in Climate Conversations a Royal Pavilion & Museums blog series on Climate Change and what we can do about it.
References:
https://www.noaa.gov/education/resource-collections/ocean-coasts/ocean-acidification
https://coastadapt.com.au/ocean-acidification-and-its-effects
https://www.iucn.org/resources/issues-briefs/ocean-acidification
https://www.opb.org/news/article/dungeness-crab-ocean-acidification-dissolve-shell/
Written by Juliet Maxted, Zoology graduate & Booth Museum volunteer