The ocean is a huge body of water that is home to many amazing animals, plants, and abiotic processes. It also helps control weather patterns and serves as a major food source for humans and other organisms.
Animals that live in the ocean include fish, krill, shrimp, jellyfish, and coral. They are all important to our planet’s ecosystem, and some even play an important role in the way we eat.
Some of the most interesting animals that live in the ocean are sharks, sea turtles, and dolphins. You’ll find these creatures in waters all over the world, from Australia to New Zealand.
Marine organisms make their energy from combining sunlight and carbon dioxide to create food for themselves. They also provide shelter for other animals and are a vital part of the food chain.
Algae (phytoplankton) is another important group of marine organisms. This group of free-floating algae helps supply oxygen to the planet and is a great food source for smaller fish, like sardines, salmon, and herring.
Plants in the ocean are also very important, and can help balance out the acidification of the water. They use a combination of sunlight and carbon dioxide to create organic matter that is used as food for other animals, such as krill.
Scientists don’t know how the ocean will respond to acidification, but they’re trying to find out through controlled laboratory experiments with various species of animals. They’re looking at their behavior, energy use, immune response and reproductive success to see how they might fare under more acidic conditions.
Currently, the acidity of the ocean is 30 percent more acidic than it was 200 years ago. That’s faster than any change in ocean chemistry in the geologic past.
The rate of change is accelerating because of the increase in greenhouse gas emissions. This is called ocean acidification and it’s caused by human activity.
This is a problem because more acidic ocean water can be hard for shell-building animals to survive in. It’s harder for them to build their skeletons and can also slow down their ability to reproduce and grow, which can have serious consequences on the ecosystem.
Other threats to the ocean are rising temperatures and changing nutrient levels. These changes can harm fish and other marine life, such as corals, which can become brittle, causing them to break off or erode faster.
The ocean is a huge body of water, and it affects almost every aspect of our planet’s climate. It also is a critical resource for humans, providing food and water as well as valuable resources such as oil, minerals and natural gas.