Journal Exercise #1

The article I found is titled The Environmental and Economic Impacts of Ocean Acidification,  written by the U.S. Subcommittee on Oceans, Atmosphere, Fisheries and Coast Guard. Ocean acidification is currently one of the greatest threats facing our oceans today. Ocean acidification is caused by the mixing of seawater and carbon dioxide, which forms carbonic acid, thereby increasing the acidity of the ocean. According to the article, in the past 250 years, atmospheric and oceanic carbon contractions have increased by 40 percent, while the pH of our oceans has decreased  by roughly 30 percent, which is a rate of change that has not been seen in over 800,000 years. Only until recently did scientists find out what this entails for marine life in the ocean. Coral reefs are rapidly depleting, hard shelled organisms are unable to form shells, and other marine life is migrating to other areas of the ocean. This document attempted to analyze and provide solutions that combat ocean acidification. The researchers involved in this study needed expert knowledge, reports of events, as well as economic data which may have required several of the following: public and private records, in-depth interviews, surveys, as well as field research. I believe this piece was well done and provided accurate and informational information.

U.S. Subcommittee on Oceans, Atmosphere, Fisheries and Coast Guard (22 April 2010). The Environmental and Economic Impacts of Ocean Acidification. Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation for the United States Senate. pp. 1-21.