estuaries) are finding ways to adapt to the changing conditions.” (The Ocean Portal Team, 2018).

Figure 1.2 shows that mechanism by which increased CO2 levels in the atmosphere cause decreased carbonate ions in the water resulting in fewer calcifiers.

Plants and herbivores

Finally, greenhouse gases may affect the growth rates and biodiversity of plants and associated organisms. Although some might think that increasing greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide (main component photosynthesis), must be beneficial to plants, we cannot take away from the other negative aspects they bring. As the earth heats up, we get more depletion of essential resources, such as water (during times of droughts), which can then decrease the moisture levels of the soils restricting the rate of photosynthesis. Another issue increasing temperatures can have is denaturation of certain proteins. Since plants are not homeotherms the regulation of their temperatures depends on the environment they are in, and if the temperatures are too high it can cause harmful effects on the enzymes necessary for photosynthesis, an example being rubisco binding to O2 instead of CO2. Not only do these gases decrease their ability to grow but also degrade the nutritional value the plants. Samuel Myers, research scientist in environmental health at Harvard, noted that “We know unequivocally that when you grow food at elevated CO2 levels in fields, it becomes less nutritious, … atmospheric CO2 levels predicted for mid-century—around 550 parts per million—could make food crops lose enough of those key nutrients to cause zinc deficits in 150 million to 200 million [people].” (Sneed, 2018) Furthermore, “Numerous studies have already documented shifts in the timing of plant growth at high latitudes associated with recent climate change” (Post and Forchhammer, 2007). These shifts in timing of growth can cause trophic mismatches to occur between herbivores which could then later have negative impacts on survival and reproduction patterns as it would change the performance peaks for these populations. So not only do greenhouse gases have an effect on the plant species but also those that use plants as their carbon resource

Conclusion