FBISD Oceans Program will be working with inland schools across the US. Any teacher that participates will earn $100 for their personal lives and $100 for their classroom; a total of $200. We have funding for 20 teachers to participate. We are focusing on K-8th grade, but welcome any grade level. The grant includes: expert speakers, supplies for lessons, and opportunities for classrooms to sample water bodies.
Ocean Acidification
A project by Flour Bluff I.S.D. Intermediate Oceans Program
Overview
Ocean acidification is affecting the entire world’s oceans, including estuaries, waterways, and inland economies. Many economies are dependent on fish, shellfish, and other ocean products that they may not even realize originate from the ocean. For more than 200 years, the concentration of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere has increased due to the burning of fossil fuels. The industrialization and deforestation of land has compounded the increasing carbon dioxide. The ocean absorbs about 30 percent of the CO2 that is released in the atmosphere. So as levels of atmospheric CO2 increase, so do the levels in the ocean. The results affect all living and nonliving things in the ocean.
What is Ocean Acidification?
For more than 200 years, or since the industrial revolution, the concentration of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere has increased due to the burning of fossil fuels and land use change. The ocean absorbs about 30 percent of the CO2 that is released in the atmosphere, and as levels of atmospheric CO2 increase, so do the levels in the ocean.
When CO2 is absorbed by seawater, a series of chemical reactions occur resulting in the increased concentration of hydrogen ions. This increase causes the seawater to become more acidic and causes carbonate ions to be relatively less abundant.