Impact of Global Carbon Foot Print on Marine Environment

Impact of Global Carbon Foot Print on Marine Environment

1. Sanjeevi1, Muhammad Bello Haruna1, Sandeep Tripathi1, Bipin Kumar Singp and J. Anuradha1

   1Department of Biotechnology, Institute of Advance Science and Technology

   2Department of Civil Engineering, NIMS Institute of Advance Engineering and Technology NIMS University (Rajasthan), Jaipur

   Abstract: Carbon footprint is one among the potential tool that could comprehend the impact of threats posed by global warming. The scenario of estimating global carbon (GC) emissions forms basis for the arena of recent research. Dynamics of seawater chemistry is governed by the release of increased carbon dioxide (CO2) concentration into the atmosphere triggered by increasing industrial and agricultural activities of mankind. It is ultimately the ocean that absorbs a quarter of the CO2 released every year into the atmosphere. The pioneer researchers emphasizing on GHG mitigation had believed that the carbon sink into ocean as a boon that could reduce its concentration from atmosphere, but in contrast by the decades passed resulted in ocean acidification (Climate changes equally evil twin). This is mainly because CO2 gets dissolved in sea water forming carbonic acid. The gradual increase in acidity mainly on the surface inhibits the marine biodiversity especially on the livelihood of coral reefs. The Hector scale measures the average pH fall by 0.1 units that corresponds to 30% increase in proton concentration (H+), since the industrial revolution began. It is predicted that in near future by end of this century CO2 sink into ocean may raise the ocean acidity by 25-30 % more acidic than that it had since 1750s. These attributes bring the need for awareness among mankind to conserve marine organisms such as coral reefs, mussels, clams, urchins, starfish and some other species of fish.

   Keywords: Carbon footprints, GC, Ocean acidification, Hector scale, CO2 sink.

   1. INTRODUCTION

      Carbon Footprint (CF) is an umbrella term that expresses the concentration of Carbon-Di-Oxide (CO2) or Green house gases (GHG) emitted into the atmosphere and are expressed in CO2equivalent unit. GC emissions from fossil fuels was found to be 32.3 billion metric ton (BMT) during the year 2012 and are estimated, likely to be around

      35.6 43.2 BMT by the year 2020 2040 respectively [1].

      China stands first, followed by USA and European Union in repertoire of CO2 emitters all through the globe [2]. The global CO2 emission has doubled over the past four decades Viz a Viz 6.46 and 11.71 BMT by the year 1995 and 2035 respectively. It has been evidenced from the continuous growth achieved in the developing and developed countries. The driving force that contributes to rise in CO2 emission comprises country group namely developing and developed

      countries and the demand type based on the investment or consumption factor. In terms of countries, it is estimated that developing countries could emits double the carbon than that of developed countries during the year 2035. The visible pattern of identification of global carbon hotspots includes the phenomenon of carbon leakage within the microclimate but also spreading carbon footprint in to neighboring countries [3]. Among the country group, it is predicted that Eastern Europe contributes at high rate (19%) followed by China (17%) towards average global carbon concentration by 2035. The consumption factor includes its generation from electrical power production (25%), agriculture, forestry and other land use (24 %), transportation (14%), industrial processes (21%), residential service (6%) and miscellaneous usage (10%) [4]. Significant sources that are responsible for CO2 emissions include the use of fossil-fuel and industrial processes. This comprises two-thirds of global green house gas composition.

   2. GLOBAL CARBON FOOTPRINT

      In recent years, the concept of CF is popularized among public, initiating awareness towards sustainability and to subsidize global climatic threat thereof. However, its definition and effects remains ambiguous. POST (2006) [5] defines CF as the total amount of greenhouse gases (i.e.CO2 and other GHG), that are emitted throughout the life-cycle of a process or a product.

      Wiedmann and Minx [6] proposed that CF is the measure of exclusively total CO2 emitted directly and indirectly by an activity or is accumulated throughout the life stages of a product. Whereas, cumulative measure of GHG (i.e. inclusive of all GHGs) emitted, is termed as 'Climate Footprint'. In the present study, we consider the measure of CO2 emission count among the GHGs contributing to Global Carbon Footprint (Fig. 1).

   3. OCEAN ACIDIFICATION AND

      DECALCIFICATION

      Rapidity of industrialization and urbanization results in higher consumption of energy and resources leaving behind uncontrolled waste generation. This contributes to increase in greenhouse gas emissions, and therefore, affecting the

      atmosphere and earths global temperature. Among these, the most critical issue impacted on our planet is due to the climatic change caused by increased release of CO2 into the atmosphere [7, 8]. Most of the resultant CO2 originates from burning of fossil fuels that eventually sinks into ocean causing potential risk to marine biota [9]. It is estimated that about 2530% of anthropogenic CO2 emission were engulfed by worlds ocean since mid 18th century [10, 11]. Subsequently, Ocean thus experiences several changes like, warming of surface and deep water, reduced oxygen concentration from surface water, reduced calcium carbonate saturation levels and pH [12]. The resulting perturbation in ocean chemistry is said to be the phenomenon called Ocean Acidification (OA) [9, 13].

      Fig. 1: Components contributing to Carbon footprint and Climate footprint.

      The pioneer researchers emphasizing on GHG mitigation had believed that the carbon sink into ocean, as a boon that could reduce its concentration from atmosphere. In contrast by the decades passed the resulted OA is considered as climate changes equally evil twin. This is mainly because CO2that gets dissolved into sea water forming carbonic acid increases solubility of calcium carbonate (CaCO3) (Step: 4). Thus, reduced CaCO3 concentration creates demand and is unavailable to the marine organisms such as coral reefs, sea urchins, and oysters etc. for the generation of shells. Additionally, in combination with carbonic acid, it drives the dissolution of shell. The weakened shell formation impacts on survivorship of marine organisms by facilitating less protection from predators, desiccation and physical damage. Hypercapnia interrupts on growth, reproduction and nutrient uptake of marine biota thereby affecting the efficacy of marine food webs and ecosystem. The continual OA, poses risk to marine ecosystem (i.e. structure and function), particularly to calcareous organisms such as corals and other species that depends on calciferous protective structure. The effect of OA on marine ecosystem and its consequences is relatively an unexplored research avenue since a decade. It has been evident from the recent eco-toxicological studies that marine biota is imposed by anthropogenic pressures due to ocean warming and acidification [18]. These identified stressors pose deleterious impacts on marine organisms (Figure 2).

      Advancement in industrial and urban development, agricultural practices, uncontrolled burning of fossil fuels and like, liberates CO2 into atmosphere. It causes increased OA at rate attributes to warming of surface water (45°C) and decrease in oceanic pH (~0.060.32 units) hat had not been observed since few million years [1417]. Increasing CO2concentration into the ocean results in dissolution of CO2 (aq.), forging carbonic acid (H2CO3), dissociating to

      bicarbonates (HCO ), carbonates (CO 2) and releases

      OCEAN

      ACIDIFICATION

      MARINE

      HABITAT

      THREAT

      3 3

      hydrogen ion (H+) there by effects decrease in oceanic pH. Dynamics of seawater chemistry (i.e. warming and stratification) is governed by the rate of CO2 concentration released into the atmosphere that is triggered due to increased industrial and agricultural activities of mankind. It is ultimately the ocean that absorbs a quarter of the CO2 released every year into the atmosphere. The following chemical reactions (Step 13) elicit the clear causeeffect relationship of OA process with global carbon flux.

      ORGANISMS AT RISK

      REDUCTION

      UNCERTAIN NUTRIENT AVAILABILITY

      Fig. 2: Effect of Ocean Acidification on marine ecosystem.

      Increasing surface water temperature causes biochemical changes that are lethal on one hand and hypercapnia results in narcotic effect on the other hand. These documented signs indicate that if not control measures and eventual inventory of retro-fitting techniques occur, to mitigate the GHG emissions; marine lives would surely face threat for their

      habitat or uncertainty for nutrient availability or may even get extinct before being discovered.

   4. IMPACTS OF OCEAN ACIDIFICATION ON

      MARINE ORGANISMS

      Overall impact on ecosystem results from the synergistic effect of increase in surface water temperature and hypercapnia. Their co-action might cause deleterious effects on calcareous organisms.

      In particular, calcified algae, coral reefs, larval stages of most of the marine fauna and like is negatively impacted. The other organisms like fleshy algae, diatoms and fishes are less impacted. Some of physiological and biochemical processes that are likely to limit the lives of marine organisms attributes to, (a) pH reduction imbalances the extracellular fluids there by affecting metabolic efficacy, and

      (b) hypercapnia results in the neurological effects. The mechanism of decalcification impacts in sequential effects that include, (i) reduction of calcareous skeletal structure;

      (ii) loss of habitat; (iii) loss of nutrient availability; and (iv) loss of biodiversity with extinction [13, 19].

   5. PERSPECTIVE OF OCEAN ACIDIFICATION Summing up the acidification of sea water and limitation

of carbonate for building and maintenance of shells imposes vulnerability to marine species. In other words, it is not only the threat to marine life but also has potential impact on humans, who are dependent on them. Human beings experience socioeconomic problems including provision for protein, revenue and livelihoods due to changing marine ecosystems. The due cause responsible is rapidity in industrial and urban development that is leaving behind higher waste generation. So, it is of prime importance to work on integrated waste management, by incorporating retro-fitting ideas that are clean and green needs to be adopted to stop fast paced degrading environment and to ensure sustainability. The criterion comprises the three pillars (3Ps) of sustainable development that includes economic progress (Profit), environmental stewardship (Planet) and social development (People) [20]. Thus, at present the concept of Waste is changed, to that the best waste is which is not produced. In order to ameliorate the direct impacts posed by ocean acidification, the 4R concept of refuse, reduce, reuse and recycle of raw materials has to be practiced towards achieving the vision for zero emissions and zero waste.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

Corresponding author thanks Dr Era Upadhyay, Amity University (Jaipur) for the technical support.

REFERENCES

1. IEO, International Energy Outlookwith Projections to 2040, U.S. Energy Information Administration, Web: www.eia.gov/forecasts/ieo, 2016, pp. 1290.

2. J.G.J. Olivier, J.G. Maenhout, M. Muntean and J.A.H.W Peters, Trends in global CO2 emissions: 2015. Report. PBL Netherlands Environmental Assessment, Agency, The Hague, 2015 pp. 180.

3. K. Kanemoto, D. Moran and E.G. Hertwich, Mapping the carbon footprint of nations, Envi. Sci. & Tech., 2016, 50, 19, pp 1051217.

4. O. Edenhofer, R. Pichs-Madruga, Y. Sokona, E. Farahani, S. Kadner,

   K. Seyboth, A. Adler, I. Baum, S. Brunner, P. Eickemeier, B. Kriemann, J. Savolainen, S. Schlömer, C. Von Stechow, T. Zwickel,

   T.C. Minx, Climate Change 2014: Mitigation of Climate Change, Contribution of Working Group III to the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, 2014, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, United Kingdom and New York, NY, USA.

5. Post, "Carbon footprint of electricity generation". Post note 268, October 2006, Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology, London, UK, 2006.

6. T. Wiedmann and J. Minx, A Definition of 'Carbon Footprint, In: C.

   C. Pertsova, Ecological Economics Research Trends: Chapter 1, 2008, pp 111, Nova Science Publishers, Hauppauge NY, USA.

7. R. Jain, N.S. Chauhan, J. Anuradha, R. Sharma, A.K. Bansal, S. Tripathi and R. Sanjeevi, Evaluation of Water Quality of a Reservoir in Sanganer (Pink City) Rajasthan: A Multivariate Study, J Chem. and Chem. Sci., 6, 11, 2016, pp. 113742.

8. R. Sanjeevi, P. Nain, S. Tripathi, D.S. Chauhan and S.K. Pandey, Retro-fitting with integrated waste management for renewable energy system in smart cities of India: An essential strategy towards 4 Ps to achieve sustainable development, In Workshop on Capacity Building for "Environment Audit and Sustainable Development, 01st June at iCED campus, Jaipur, 2016.

9. K. Caldeira and M.E. Wickett, Anthropogenic carbon and ocean pH, Nature, 425, 2003, pp. 365.

10. Q.C. Le, R.J. Andres, T. Boden, T. Conway, R.A. Houghton, J.I. House, G. Marland, G.P. Peters, G.R. Van der Werf, A. Ahlstrom,

    R.M. Andrew, L. Bopp, J.G. Canadell, P. Ciais, S.C. Doney, C. Enright, P. Friedlingstein, C. Huntingford, A.K. Jain, C. Jourdain, E. Kato, R.F. Keeling, K. Klein Goldewijk, S. Levis, P. Levy, M. Lomas,

    B. Poulter, M.R. Raupach, J. Schwinger, S. Sitch, B.D. Stocker, N. Viovy, S. Zaehle and N. Zeng, The global carbon budget 1959 2011, Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 5, 2013, pp. 165185.

11. C.L. Sabine, R. Feely, R. Wanninkhof, T. Takahashi, S. Khatiwala and G.-H. Park, The global ocean carbon cycle, In State of the Climate in 2010, Global Oceans, B. Am. Meteorol. Soc., 92, 2011, S100S108.

12. S.C. Doney, The Growing Human Footprint on Coastaland Open- Ocean Biogeochemistry, Science, 328, 2010, pp. 15121516.

13. R.A. Feely, C.L. Sabine, K. Lee, W. Berelson, J. Kleypas, V.J. Fabry and F.J. Millero, Impact of Anthropogenic CO2on the CaCO3 System in the Oceans, Science, 305, 2004, pp. 362366.

14. K. Caldeira and M.E. Wickett, Ocean model predictions of chemistry changes from carbon dioxide emissions to the atmosphere and ocean, J Geophy. Res. 110, 2005, pp. C09S04.

15. T. Dunkley Jones, D.J. Lunt, D.N. Schmidt, A. Ridgwell, A. Sluijs,

    P.J. Valdes and M.A. Maslin, Climate model and proxy data constraintson ocean warming across the Paleocene-EoceneThermal Maximum, Earth-Science Reviews,125, 2013, pp. 123145.

16. B. Honisch, A. Ridgwell, D.N. Schmidt, E. Thomas, S.J. Gibbs, A. Sluijs, R. Zeebe, L. Kump, R.C. Martindale, S.E. Greene, W. Kiessling, J. Ries, J.C. Zachos, D.L. Royer, S. Barker, T.M. Marchitto, R. Moyer, C. Pelejero, P. Ziveri, G.L. Foster, B. Williams, The geological record of ocean acidification, Science,335, 2012, pp. 10581063.

17. D.E. Penman, B. Honisch, R.E. Zeebe, E. Thomas and J.C. Zachos, Rapid and sustained surfaceocean acidification during the Paleocene- Eocene Thermal Maximu, Paleceanography, 29, 2014, pp. 357369.

18. M. Byrne, Impact of ocean warming and ocean acidification on marine invertebrate life history stages: Vulnerabilities and potential for persistence in a changing ocean, Oceanography and Marine Biology: An Annual Review, 49, 2011, pp. 142.

19. H.O. Guldberg, P.J. Mumby, A.J. Hooten, R.S. Steneck, P. Greenfield, E. Gomez, C.D. Harvell, P.F. Sale, A.J. Edwards, K. Caldeira, N. Knowlton, C.M. Eakin, R.I. Prieto, N. Muthiga, R.H. Bradbury, A. Dubi and M.E. Hatziolos, Coral reefs under rapid climatechange and ocean acidification, Science, 318, 2007, pp. 17371742.

20. J. Anuradha, M.K. Maurya, M.B. Haruna, S. Mishra, S. Tripathi and

R. Sanjeevi, Novel approach towards mitigation of modern a Agricultural scenario: with a special reference to Amelioration of GCC impacts, IJERT., In press.