Sea Butterflies Defend Their Homes Against an Acidic Ocean
We all know that carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) is produced from burning fossil fuels, and that it contributes to global warming. But have you heard about the “evil twin” of global warming, also caused by CO 2 –ocean acidification? The ocean absorbs about 30% of the CO 2 that humans emit each year. As CO 2...
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2023
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Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/frym.2023.1064102 https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/frym.2023.1064102/full |
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crfrontiers:10.3389/frym.2023.1064102 2024-02-11T10:02:52+01:00 Sea Butterflies Defend Their Homes Against an Acidic Ocean Peck, Victoria Louise Manno, Clara 2023 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/frym.2023.1064102 https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/frym.2023.1064102/full unknown Frontiers Media SA https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Frontiers for Young Minds volume 11 ISSN 2296-6846 General Medicine journal-article 2023 crfrontiers https://doi.org/10.3389/frym.2023.1064102 2024-01-26T09:57:27Z We all know that carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) is produced from burning fossil fuels, and that it contributes to global warming. But have you heard about the “evil twin” of global warming, also caused by CO 2 –ocean acidification? The ocean absorbs about 30% of the CO 2 that humans emit each year. As CO 2 dissolves into the ocean, it forms carbonic acid, effectively making the ocean acidic. Animals that use a substance called calcium carbonate to build their shells and skeletons are vulnerable to acidic conditions, as their hard parts may dissolve. Microscopic swimming snails called pteropods or sea butterflies are common in the Southern Ocean. With incredibly delicate shells thinner than a human hair, pteropods are often considered to be the organisms most vulnerable to ocean acidification. Using microscopes and X-rays, we took extremely detailed images of these tiny shells and found that pteropods have a couple of clever tactics to defend their “homes” against ocean acidification. Article in Journal/Newspaper Carbonic acid Ocean acidification Southern Ocean Frontiers (Publisher) Southern Ocean Frontiers for Young Minds 11 |
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Frontiers (Publisher) |
op_collection_id |
crfrontiers |
language |
unknown |
topic |
General Medicine |
spellingShingle |
General Medicine Peck, Victoria Louise Manno, Clara Sea Butterflies Defend Their Homes Against an Acidic Ocean |
topic_facet |
General Medicine |
description |
We all know that carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) is produced from burning fossil fuels, and that it contributes to global warming. But have you heard about the “evil twin” of global warming, also caused by CO 2 –ocean acidification? The ocean absorbs about 30% of the CO 2 that humans emit each year. As CO 2 dissolves into the ocean, it forms carbonic acid, effectively making the ocean acidic. Animals that use a substance called calcium carbonate to build their shells and skeletons are vulnerable to acidic conditions, as their hard parts may dissolve. Microscopic swimming snails called pteropods or sea butterflies are common in the Southern Ocean. With incredibly delicate shells thinner than a human hair, pteropods are often considered to be the organisms most vulnerable to ocean acidification. Using microscopes and X-rays, we took extremely detailed images of these tiny shells and found that pteropods have a couple of clever tactics to defend their “homes” against ocean acidification. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Peck, Victoria Louise Manno, Clara |
author_facet |
Peck, Victoria Louise Manno, Clara |
author_sort |
Peck, Victoria Louise |
title |
Sea Butterflies Defend Their Homes Against an Acidic Ocean |
title_short |
Sea Butterflies Defend Their Homes Against an Acidic Ocean |
title_full |
Sea Butterflies Defend Their Homes Against an Acidic Ocean |
title_fullStr |
Sea Butterflies Defend Their Homes Against an Acidic Ocean |
title_full_unstemmed |
Sea Butterflies Defend Their Homes Against an Acidic Ocean |
title_sort |
sea butterflies defend their homes against an acidic ocean |
publisher |
Frontiers Media SA |
publishDate |
2023 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/frym.2023.1064102 https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/frym.2023.1064102/full |
geographic |
Southern Ocean |
geographic_facet |
Southern Ocean |
genre |
Carbonic acid Ocean acidification Southern Ocean |
genre_facet |
Carbonic acid Ocean acidification Southern Ocean |
op_source |
Frontiers for Young Minds volume 11 ISSN 2296-6846 |
op_rights |
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3389/frym.2023.1064102 |
container_title |
Frontiers for Young Minds |
container_volume |
11 |
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1790598950613417984 |