I' Follow up on C02

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I. Follow up on C02
II. Marine Pollution
III. Success stories
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CO2(g) H2O H2CO3 The
oceanic chemical pump
Reaction is governed by Henrys Law, so is a
function of temperature, pressure and the
composition of the solution.
H2CO3 (Carbonic acid) is the form in which we
find CO2 in the ocean Carbonic acid is a weak
acid
(It can dissociate)
a diprotic acid
(It will dissociate in two steps)
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The main aspect of oceanic DIC 38,000 Gt C tied
up in the CO2 system
Seltzer water
Baking soda
Tums
CaCO3 Ca2 CO32-
KS Ca2CO32- (Ks
10-9)
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What about diatoms radiolarians?
Diatoms (autotrophs) and Radiolarians
(heterotrophs) are composed of silica (SiO2).
They are found abundantly in regions of high
silica, such as the Antarctic and N. Pacific.
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Lea Reader
Equivalence points pK1 6.2, or K1
10-6.2 pK2 9.4 or, K2 10-9.4
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I. Follow up on C02
II. Marine Pollution
III. Success stories
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Marine pollution

• Human activities cause the release of synthetic
  hazardous substances, nutrients, and organic
  carbon enrichment into the marine environment

• Contamination of the marine environment with the
  hazardous substances can harm marine life

• At low to moderate levels, nutrients and organic
  enrichment feed animals but at high levels cause
  plankton blooms, over-production of bacteria,
  leading to hypoxia and anoxia

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Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs)

• Brominated flame retardants
• Perfluorinated compounds (PFCs)

• Many other POPs (e.g., PCBs, Dioxin,
  Organochlorine Pesticides) have been listed by a
  United Nations (UN) global treaty designed to
  protect humans and the environment the
  Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic
  Pollutants (POPs).
• May 2004
• Implementation of the Convention requires
  governments to take measures to eliminate or
  reduce the release of POPs into the environment

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Brominated flame retardants

• 75 different brominated flame retardants
  recognised commercially
• 5 comprise the vast majority of current
  production 3 commercial formulations of
  polybrominate diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), and
  hexabromocyclododecane (HBCD) and
  tetrabromobisphenol A (TBBPA)

• 209 different chemicals (plastics, electrical
  appliances, TVs, etc)
• Pathways emissions, leaching from products,
  and sewage sludge
• Biological harm bioaccumulates in organisms
  (fat soluble), passed mother to infant,
  biomagnifies in food webs

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Toxicity

• PBDEs Structurally the same as PCBs
• Damages thyroid system growth and development
  effects
• Horomone disruption
• Bad news!

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Solutions

• Global UN Stockholm Convention
• Regional Policy Convention for Protection of NE
  Atlantic (OSPAR) EU based some regulations on
  Stockholm Convention
• National Policy Some products are set to become
  effective in several states of the USA Japan
  PentaBDE was voluntarily withdrawn from the
  market Sweden has passed legislation that
  restricts the use of DecaBDE in new products in
  sectors such as textiles, upholstery and
  electrical wiring.

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Perfluorinated compounds (PFCs)

• 2 industrial processes produce PFCs
• Until 2003, 3 M company produced perfluoroalkyl
  sulphonates and is known as electrochemical
  fluorination
• The carbon-fluorine bond in PFCs is very strong
  and gives thermal and chemical stability to many
  PFCs
• Used in repel both water and oil Teflon,
  Gortex, firefighting foams!
• Stability that makes them potentially significant
  environmental contaminants due to their
  resistance to natural breakdown processes thus
  persistence
• Pathways - unknown
• Bioaccumulates

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Toxicity

• Lab rats immune system breakdown, reduced
  cholesterol, tumor production

Dead animals had high levels of PFOs and PFOAs
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Solutions

• 3 m stopped makin g PFOs in 2003
• EPA banned use of some compounds
• Draft risk assessment of PFOAs
• EU policy for including compounds in Stockholm
  Treaty

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Radioactive pollutants

• Most for bomb treaty 1954-1962
• Nuclear energy industry it produces
• Sellafield (UK) and La Hague (France)
  radionucleide Caesium (137Cs), 90St, 129Id, etc.
• Polluted Irish Sea in sediments, fish, deals,
  dolphins

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Solutions

• OSPAR (EU) adopted strategy to reduce discharges-
  long-standing disagreement between Ireland, UK,
  Denmark, and Norway.
• Little evidence says it will be cleaned up and
  stopped
• Existing nuclear facilities will just have to
  reach the end of their life cycles

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Nutrient Loading and Dead Zones
200 dead zones worldwide
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Dead zones

• The largest dead zones are found in coastal areas
  of the Baltic Sea (84,000 km2), northern Gulf of
  Mexico (21,000 km2) and, until recently, the
  northwestern shelf of the Black Sea (40,000 km2)
• Smaller and less frequently occurring areas of
  hypoxi occur in the northern Adriatic Sea, the
  southern bight of the North Sea and in many U.S.
  coastal and estuarine areas including New York
  Bight and Chesapeake Bay
• Recent research shows that hypoxic areas are now
  also occurring off South America, China, Japan,
  southeast Australia and New Zealand
• Some of the hypoxic zones are fleeting, whereas
  others persist for large proportions of the year
  (e.g., the dead zone in the northern Gulf of
  Mexico is dominant from spring through to late
  summer, but rare in the autumn and winter

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Growing problem in coastal oceans/Solutions

• Hypoxic zones are increasing in coastal regions
  around the world
• Causing reduction of biodiversity and in some
  cases impacts on fisheries. In the case of
• Prudent to reduce inputs of nitrogen and
  phosphorous to the coastal marine environment
• This would seem applicable to all areas of the
  world where there is high nitrogen and
  phosphorous input to coastal waters
• Solutions Sustainable methods of farming and
  moving towards the cessation of the burning of
  fossil fuels, both of which would contribute to
  lessening nutrient inputs to the coastal marine
  environment.

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Oil pollution

• Large oil spills to the marine environment can be
  catastrophic
• Smaller spills occur every day
• Sources of small spills include ship spills,
  offshore oil drilling operations
• and routine ship and car maintenance
• 1990 to 1999 513 spills from tankers and tank
  barges in US coastal waters of at least 100
  gallons (379 l) in size
• In the North Sea, lawful discharges of oil from
  offshore oil and gas installations accounted for
  the overwhelming bulk of oil inputs from this
  sector
• While the size of a spill is important, the
  amount of damage done also depends on other
  factors including the type of oil spilled, the
  location of the spill and weather conditions

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View of oil slick which is covering Ramleh
Baydah, the only public sandy beach in Beirut,
Lebanon. The oil spill occurred after Israeli
bombers targeted a power plant in Jiyeh,
releasing 10,000-35,000 t of heavy fuel oil into
the Mediterranean Sea
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Lessons learned for the Exxon Valdez

• March 1989 spill released an estimated 42,000 t
  of crude oil into Prince William Sound on the
  margin of the northern Gulf of Alaska
• Resulted in the contamination of at least 1,990
  km of pristine shoreline
• Particularly damaging because it affected a
  coastal system which was notably rich in
  seabirds,
• marine mammals and shoreline-dependent species.
• Immediate effects of the oil spill on seabirds of
  all types was large - 250,000 birds were killed
• Longer-term, long-lasting effects were also found
  in many components of ecosystem and food webs

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Solutions

• Regulations for a global phase out of
  single-hulled oil tankers by the International
  Maritime Organization were eventually brought
  into place in 2005
• Full and unlimited liability through a chain of
  responsibilities, including the owners, managers
  and operators of a vessel and of any charterers
  or owners of the cargo, ensuring that the
  industry pays for the damage caused by accidents
• Marine reserves
• Phase out the use of oil and move towards clean,
  renewable energy that can meet our needs without
  threatening the environment, now and into the
  future

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Plastic debris
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Impacts
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Solutions

• There are a number of global, international and
  national initiatives in place that are aimed at
  protecting the oceans from marine debris
• The most far-reaching - International Convention
  for the Prevention of Pollution from ships
• (MARPOL).
• Annex V of MARPOL was introduced in 1988 with the
  intention of banning the dumping of most garbage
  and all plastic materials from ships at sea
• A total of 122 countries have ratified the treaty
• There is some evidence that the implementation of
  MARPOL has reduced the marine debris problem but
  other research shows that it does not appear to
  have had any positive impact
• It must also be remembered that an estimated 80
  of marine debris originates from sources on land
• Other measures to address marine debris include
  manual clean-up operations of shorelines and the
  sea floor as well as school and public education
  programs
• Zero Waste. - Such a strategy encompasses waste
  reduction, reuse and recycling as well as
  producer responsibility and ecodesign

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I. Follow up on C02
II. Marine Pollution
III. Success stories in the making a place for
science
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Lenihan et al. (2003)
How do can we assess biological effects of
multiple pollutants as means of identifying the
most important contaminant(s)?
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• Antarctica

McMurdo Sound
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• Severe marine pollution
• problems

McMurdo Sound
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Multiple environmental disturbances

• Cause complex responses in marine ecosystems

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Field experiments
See you in ESM 260!
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Overfishing
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Solutions being developed

• Marine reserves
• Economic strategies catch shares
• Socio-Ecological Systems Approaches

http//www.calobster.org/
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Habitat destruction
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Recovery Time of Corals in an MPA following
a Natural Disturbance (typhoon)
Heron Island, Great Barrier Reef,
AustraliaData courtesy of J. Connell, UCSB
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Estuarine ecosystem
Oyster reefs
The American oyster
Crassostrea virginica
Pamlico Sound, NC
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Experimental reefs
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Following the
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