Ocean Acidification: Effects on Marine Life and Ecosystems
Nikki Ma
Nikki Ma is a first-year undergraduate student at the University of Washington, Seattle. She is currently pursuing a major in Marine Biology with a minor in Quantitative Science and is interested in exploring marine life along with environmental impacts on ocean ecosystems.
Abstract
Ocean acidification is a critical issue that will undoubtedly lead to consequences that my generation will have to deal with. Our environment and ecosystems are currently suffering from these consequences, and biodiversity loss is prevalent all around the world. In order to educate others, I used the genre of social media and made an informational Instagram account with the intention of exposing social media users to ocean acidification. Because most social media users are young, my audience ranges from middle school to college students. My main purpose is to raise awareness about ocean acidification to those with little to no prior knowledge because this is a pressing issue that more people should know about in order to combat it. Young people are also the leaders of our future generation, so it is important that they know about this issue and why it is important.
In order to do so, I made nine posts addressing different aspects of ocean acidification. The topics are: what ocean acidification is, how it works, human contributions, impacts on humans, ecosystems, different types of organisms (shellfish, coral, fish), and what we can do to help. My first row of posts is introductory, explaining ocean acidification and the chemistry behind it, along with its general causes: fossil fuel emissions and deforestation. The second row describes the impacts of ocean acidification on ecosystems and humans, along with a few simple things we can do in our everyday lives to reduce our contributions to ocean acidification. The third row highlights three specific organisms and how they are affected by ocean acidification. I prioritized visual aesthetics for my multimodal text by keeping the background of the cover photo of each post the same to keep my feed very simple, and the format I used was a big title with a small icon on the bottom that represented each topic. For each post, I tried choosing a background that had somewhat of a connection to the topic, but was not so colorful to the point where my text was hard to read. For example, in my post about human contributions to ocean acidification, I used a background of a factory emitting fossil fuels, causing the sky to be filled with smoke and turn red. At the end of each post, I also included relevant images about the topic. I also wanted to make sure that my writing style for the bullet points was very easy to understand since my primary audience does not necessarily have a strong background about ocean acidification. My main goal for the entire layout was for it to look visually appealing, with no scientific jargon that may confuse younger viewers.
By using Instagram, one of the most popular social media sites as my platform, I hope to raise awareness about ocean acidification. However, I can envision expanding to other sites such as Facebook, where I can also make informational pages. After my audience views my text, I hope that it sparks their curiosity and inspires them to do more research and look more into detail about ocean acidification. My goal is to educate them about the consequences that our oceans are facing right now, and why it is crucial that we take action immediately.
Works Cited
Doney, Scott C, et al. “Ocean Acidification: The Other CO2 Problem.” Annual Review of Marine Science, vol. 1, no. 1, 2009, pp. 169–92, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21141034, 10.1146/annurev.marine.010908.163834. https://www.instagram.com/p/CIYvIJ-ne6W/ https://www.instagram.com/p/CIYvFdjHiyJ/ https://www.instagram.com/p/CIYu-bin_lC/
Fabry, Victoria J., et al. “Impacts of Ocean Acidification on Marine Fauna and Ecosystem Processes.” ICES Journal of Marine Science, vol. 65, no. 3, 1 Apr. 2008, pp. 414–432, academic.oup.com/icesjms/article/65/3/414/789605, 10.1093/icesjms/fsn048. https://www.instagram.com/p/CIYue45nR4_/
Hoegh-Guldberg, Ove, et al. “Coral Reef Ecosystems under Climate Change and Ocean Acidification.” Frontiers in Marine Science, vol. 4, 29 May 2017, 10.3389/fmars.2017.00158. https://www.instagram.com/p/CIYuZ1AHkmx/
Klinger, Terrie, et al. “Using Integrated, Ecosystem-Level Management to Address Intensifying Ocean Acidification and Hypoxia in the California Current Large Marine Ecosystem.” Elem Sci Anth, vol. 5, no. 0, 31 Mar. 2017, p. 16, 10.1525/elementa.198. Accessed 17 May 2020. https://www.instagram.com/p/CIYue45nR4_/ https://www.instagram.com/p/CIYukYLH343/
Kroeker, Kristy J., et al. “Impacts of Ocean Acidification on Marine Organisms: Quantifying Sensitivities and Interaction with Warming.” Global Change Biology, vol. 19, no. 6, 3 Apr. 2013, pp. 1884–1896, 10.1111/gcb.12179. https://www.instagram.com/p/CIYuLcQnmsA/
Olischläger, Mark, and Christian Wild. “How Does the Sexual Reproduction of Marine Life Respond to Ocean Acidification?” Diversity, vol. 12, no. 6, 13 June 2020, p. 241, 10.3390/d12060241. Accessed 18 Aug. 2020. https://www.instagram.com/p/CIYu6NsniDl/
“Reduce Your Ecological Footprint | Climate Protection.” RESET.to, 2017, en.reset.org/act/reduce-your-ecological-footprint-0. https://www.instagram.com/p/CIYu0AVHA52/