Changing the Chemistry of Earth's Oceans

                        

Last year in AP Chemistry, my class read the book Seasick by Alanna Mitchell. The book talked about all the ways that the carbon compounds, burning fossil fuels, and the other ways we are destroying the planet are affecting the ocean. Though at times dense, it was a very well researched and written detail of many different research institutions and scientists on the state of Earth's oceans. The book wrote about phytoplankton, coral reefs, pH, and dead zones. In this article by the Editorial Board of the New York Times, the author writes of the acidification of the world's seawater and how the ocean is becoming more acidic in the span of a couple of decades, what may the fastest in the past 300 million years. Obviously, this is another environmental issue, that as the author says "with no signs that we have the political will to slow, much less halt, the process," (Editorial Board 1). The saddest part of the change in the ocean's chemical composition for me is the destruction of the beautiful coral reefs which are beautiful ecosystems that house many organisms. The calcium carbonates on the coral reefs are slowly wearing away so much that even the Great Coral Reef will soon be destroyed of its beauty.

The Editorial Board uses some efficient techniques to convey a message in a short article. The author writes of the cause of the chemical change and explains what acidification is, obviously appealing to a very general audience that may not know much about chemistry. The logos appeal is found in the citation of research at Columbia University by paleoceanographers that the ocean's pH is the fastest acidification in the past 300 million years. An opinion is also revealed in the article when the author writes, "with no signs that we have the political will to slow, much less halt, the process," (Editorial Board 1), which shows that the author is obviously in favor of trying to prevent further acidification. However, they know that the political support will be to low to make enough of a difference. I really hope that the political support does arise in order to preserve the beauty underneath the surface of the oceans.