Reflection

Reflection

I was inspired by the diverse and exotic animals that made up the ecosystem of the Stellwagen Bank Marine Sanctuary. In particular, I wanted to show that no ecosystem is limited to just the ocean or just on land; marine and land ecosystems are just as interconnected as one marine ecosystem is to another. I tried to accomplish this by incorporating non-aquatic creatures into the painting despite the watery background. After researching climate change, I learned about ocean acidification, dead zones, and how dangerous they are for the biodiversity of our marine ecosystems. Carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is dissolved in our oceans. While this helps slow the collection of greenhouse gases in the ozone, the dissolved carbon dioxide releases H+ ions and carbonic acid into the ocean which increases its pH. Many of our marine species on Earth evolved to survive at a specific pH and through climate change, we are quite literally poisoning their homes. A way that we as individuals can stem the tide of ocean acidification is we can limit the amount of CO2 we release into the air by riding a bicycle to work, using less electricity around the house, or installing solar panels.