In this video, Associate Professor Abby Smith, from the University of Otago, talks about what we can do to help reduce ocean acidification1.
Point of interest
Make links to other initiatives to reduce carbon emissions2 that students may have heard of.
Transcript
ASSOC PROF ABBY SMITH
One of the things about ocean acidification is that it’s really scary. I wouldn’t like to see the marine environment without any shelled creatures in it, and I’m pretty sure most people wouldn’t. Whether you just eat molluscs3, or whether you collect shells, or whether you are interested in the survival of biodiversity4 on this planet5, probably most people don’t want to see our ocean to be completely without shell-producing organisms. There is very little we can do about it. We have already produced enough carbon6 to cause a lot of trouble. There is absolutely no geo-engineering solution that we know of. There is nothing we can put in the sea to make it turn out, to fix it. There is not antacid for the indigestion of the ocean. What we need is to stop producing carbon dioxide7 in our atmosphere8 right now. So when you have the opportunity not to use your car, you should think about all those little tiny creatures out there in the sea desperately struggling to make their skeletons and walk.
Acknowledgements:
A and M Macleod
Barbara Agnew
Rosminah
