Weeds+will+take+over+from+kelp+in+high+CO2+oceans

Weeds will take over from kelp in high CO2 oceans

Where it came from/ When: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/05/180503101746.htm Science Daily News Written 5/3/2018 Accessed 5/6/2018

Summary: The increased amounts of CO2 emissions in our world have led to detrimental effects in our oceans. This rise of carbon dioxide in our oceans has promoted the growth of a lot of weeds who are beginning to replace kelp. As stated by the leader of this project "Carbon emissions might boost plant life in the oceans, but not all plant life will benefit equally." Because weeds are an opportunistic species, they are taking in CO2 and other nutrients before other plant species can absorb them, and then growing faster than their predators can consume them. This is an issue that needs to be addressed as kelp is essential in promoting biodiversity and coastal productivity and a decrease in its population could affect the entire marine dynamic.

Relation to APES: The discussions in this article relate a lot to what we find in our textbook about greenhouse gas emissions and messing with nutrient cycles. The textbook says “We add about one-fourth as much CO2 to the troposphere as the rest of nature does by burning up nature’s one-time-only deposit of fossil fuels and clearing forests. This massive human intrusion into the carbon cycle has the potential to warm the earth and alter global climate and food-producing regions.” (Miller 472-473) As we intrude in different nutrient cycles, we begin to disrupt other systems such as food chains and natural processes of decomposition etc. This could permanently alter the way our earth functions and lead to our ultimate demise. Your Opinion: In my opinion, this is just another reason why we must reduce our pollutant emissions. It isn’t the right of humans to decide the fate of our earth and all the life on it. This study and many others prove that CO2 and other greenhouse emissions are negatively impacting our planets and we NEED to take action before we have no planet left to save. Hopefully, our negative impacts on the environment as well as industry will convince government officials and citizens that something must be done.

Environmental Law: An act that has been passed that ties well to this article is the Clean Air Act of 1990. This act is a federal law passed by the United States Congress that attempts to protect humans and the environment from air pollution. The Clean Air Act 1990 was an extension of the 1970 Clean Air Act and it now has set strict regulations and limits on companies and factories. This is relevant as many of the pollutants we emit often end up in our oceans as well, and lead detrimental consequences. Not only will it affect marine life, but it will also impact many industries that rely on oceans such as fisheries and tourism.

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