NEGATIVE HUMAN IMPACT: Oil pollution, overfishing, waste dumping, collecting of coral skeletons, global warming, pollution, development of coastal mangroves for aquaculture, and dumping of organic wastes are some of the ways humans are negatively impacting the marine biomes like Biscayne National Park. (4) Overfishing has depleted fish stocks in oceans, coral reefs, and benthic zones. (4) Collecting of coral skeletons and global warming and pollution all contribute to large-scale coral death. Global warming causes bleaching of coral which is when coral secretes a chemical that kills itself and turns it white. (4) The development of coastal mangroves for aquaculture has become a bad thing because it reduces the spawning grounds for multiple reef fish species. (4) The dumping of wastes and oil pollution causes a decrease in oxygen levels for the species living there causing a decline in a multitude of species. (4)
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BIOGEOCHEMICAL CYCLE AFFECTED BY HUMANS: Variations of volcanic aerosols and solar luminosity appear to be the main cause of increasing carbon dioxide levels. (5) The inorganic carbon system is one of the most important chemical equilibria in the ocean and plays an important part in controlling the pH of seawater. (1) Today atmospheric carbon dioxide is ~100 ppmv greater than the pre-industrial value (280 ppmv) and the average surface ocean pH has dropped by 0.1 unit, about a 30% increase in H+. (1) pH levels must remain close to the same so animals in the ocean that are adapted to these pH levels continue to survive and reproduce. As the pH levels are changing this is causing some animals that can survive at the new pH to reproduce more and a change can be seen in the different species. The reason pH levels are decreasing is because the process of carbon dioxide breakdown results in a lower pH and since carbon dioxide is increasing in the enviornment, the pH of the seawater will continue to gradually decrease. Humans contribute to this decreasing pH mostly through the combustion of fossil fuels and deforestation. The combustion of fossil fuels releases carbon dioxide and trees take in carbon dioxide, so humans are increasing the amount of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere and decreasing the amount of natural carbon dioxide up-takers.