Introduction

There has been less explorations of the world's oceans than expeditions into space.  Much of our own planet is undiscovered and more importantly, inadequately understood.  It is only natural then that we have very little idea of what happens in the oceans.  What we do know, however, is that the ocean is critical in maintaining homeostasis within our planet.  It is a major heat sink and is partially responsible for keeping the earth warm at night.  In the day the ocean absorbs heat taken from the ground and at night it releases it back. The ocean is also responsible for the balance of atmospheric gases and is the largest current carbon sink.  However, the ocean still has its limits.

Due to fossil fuel emissions, vast quantities of carbon dioxide are released to the atmosphere.  The ocean has a method to cope with this problem.  By spontaneous reaction of carbon dioxide with water, the ocean creates carbonic acid.  However, the ocean can only absorb a finite amount of carbon dioxide.  As the seas become more acidic, it becomes less hospitable to marine life.  All organisms have a fairly narrow window of conditions in which they can survive.  Acidifaction of the oceans would alter the chemical conditions in which many organisms reside, possibly causing mortality.  Many organisms also have narrow temperature windows and the rate of global warming only increases SSTs.

Increases in temperature creates shifts in habitable environments and marine wildlife are forced to migrate into northern latitudes in response to climatic change.  However, climate change is not the only concern to marine wildlife.  Fishing is among the few causes, along with habitat destruction and warming seas, that can destroy marine habitats.  Many of the fish we catch are among the lower end of the food chain.  Reductions in theses populations also means reduced populations of predators, leading to changes in population dynamics.  In order to preserve the natural climate, many measures must be taken in order to prevent further destruction to our ocean and marine wildlife.