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The leading cause of coral bleaching is rising ocean temperatures due to climate change caused by anthropogenic activities. [3] A temperature about 1 °C (or 2 °F) above average can cause bleaching. [3] The ocean takes in a large portion of the carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions produced by human activity.
The release of nitrogen oxides (N 2 O, NO) from anthropogenic activities and oxygen-depleted zones causes stratospheric ozone depletion leading to higher UVB exposition, which produces the damage of marine life, acid rain and ocean warming. Ocean warming causes water stratification, deoxygenation, and the formation of dead zones.
Natural causes can be from oil that leaks out from the ocean floor into the water; erosion of the seafloor; or even climate change. The amount that naturally seeps into the ocean is 181 million gallons, which varies yearly. [97] Oil Rig in the North Sea. Anthropogenic causes involve human activities and is how most oil enters the ocean.
While marine pollution can be obvious, as with the marine debris shown above, it is often the pollutants that cannot be seen that cause most harm.. Marine pollution occurs when substances used or spread by humans, such as industrial, agricultural and residential waste, particles, noise, excess carbon dioxide or invasive organisms enter the ocean and cause harmful effects there.
Some climate change effects: wildfire caused by heat and dryness, bleached coral caused by ocean acidification and heating, environmental migration caused by desertification, and coastal flooding caused by storms and sea level rise. Effects of climate change are well documented and growing for Earth's natural environment and human societies. Changes to the climate system include an overall ...
Anoxic events with euxinic (anoxic, sulfidic) conditions have been linked to extreme episodes of volcanic outgassing. Volcanism contributed to the buildup of CO 2 in the atmosphere and increased global temperatures, causing an accelerated hydrological cycle that introduced nutrients into the oceans (stimulating planktonic productivity).
From shallow waters to the deep sea, the open ocean to rivers and lakes, numerous terrestrial and marine species depend on the surface ecosystem and the organisms found there. [28] The ocean's surface acts like a skin between the atmosphere above and the water below, and harbours an ecosystem unique to this environment.
Changes in ocean circulation triggered by ongoing climate change could also add or magnify other causes of oxygen reductions in the ocean. [11] Anthropogenic causes include use of chemical fertilizers and their subsequent presence in water runoff and groundwater, direct sewage discharge into rivers and lakes, and nutrient discharge into ...