storyboard_carbon-cycle
Storyboard Text
- There are many biological (living) carbon pumps in the ocean such as phytoplankton & whales.
- Carbon pumps are where the transformation of carbon dioxide & nutrients into organic carbon compounds that also sink to the bottom of the ocean
- Carbon Pumps
- Take phytoplankton for example. When phytoplankton are given sunlight, carbon dioxide and nutrients they can reproduce, at a very fast pace, this is called phytoplankton bloom
- Right. Whales as well are a biological pump although their contribution isn't as simple.
- When whales move they will move nutrients along with them, these nutrients will rise to the surface which then provides food for phytoplankton contributing to their reproduction
- These blooms can be beneficial because the plankton will be drawing carbon dioxide down to the ocean which allows photosynthesis to take place. They will take the carbon and store it in the depths of the ocean
- When whales die they sink to the bottom of the ocean. As they sink they take with them all of the carbon that they collected within their lifetime and it is stored there with them - similarly to old trees storing large amounts of carbon
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- Carbon
- With all of these things about the carbon cycle & the hydrosphere, I wonder how we can help.
- There are many ways that we can help. This would be called mitigation. Mitigation is making something less severe.
- See the issue comes from us burning fossil fuels. The amount of carbon released it absorbed by the ocean. The increase in carbon starts a process called ocean acidification which is essentially the lowering of the oceans pH levels Ocean acidification negatively impacts sea animals that must build their shells, such as crabs, snails, and coral.
- So to prevent this from happening we should lower the burning of fossil fuels. By doing this we can lower the chance of ocean acidification.
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