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Knowledge and Skills Statement

Earth and space. The student understands how human activity can impact the hydrosphere.

The ocean influences climate by storing and moving heat from warmer regions to cooler regions. The oceans act as an air filter processing human-caused carbon dioxide, which is critical to the carbon cycle. The ocean stores 50 times more carbon than the atmosphere.

The ocean and coastal ecosystems provide nearly a million jobs in the United States through fishing, recreation, and tourism. The ocean provides a steady food source for people around the globe and provides transportation between land masses.

the quality or state of being influenced or determined by or subject to something or someone else; reliance on something or someone else for support

the system on Earth that contains all of the liquid and frozen water on Earth's surface as well as groundwater below the surface and water vapor in the atmosphere

comprised of abiotic and biotic factors that include currents, marine life, ocean floor geography, waves, and the movement of sediment and heat

Research

Andersson, Andreas J., David I. Kline , Peter J. Edmunds, Stephen D. Archer , Nina Bednaršek , Robert C. Carpenter , Meg Chadsey, Philip Goldstein , Andrea G. Grottoli , Thomas P. Hurst, Andrew L. King, Janet E. Kübler, Ilsa B. Kuffner , Katherine R.M. Mackey, Bruce A. Menge, Adina Paytan , Ulf Riebesell , Astrid Schnetzer , and Richard C. Zimmerman.  “Understanding Ocean Acidification Impacts on Organismal to Ecological Scales.” Oceanography 28, no. 2, (October 2015):16–27.
https://tos.org/oceanography/article/understanding-ocean-acidification-impacts-on-organismal-to-ecologicalscales

Summary: This scientific research article explains how researchers are working together to analyze and better understand the unintentional impacts of human behaviors on oceans. The scientific community is working to find scalable solutions to reverse negative impacts on ocean waters in order to protect aquatic ecosystems.