Elements in Ecosystems

Our entire universe is built using elements. Think of those elements as the Lego bricks that make up everything. These elements are recorded and organized using the periodic table of elements.

It's no surprise that these elements are found in ecosystems, like the Great Barrier Reef. Understanding the periodic table can help us better understand the environment. Since each element has it's own properties, knowing an element that is present in a certain area can help us predict the reactions it'll have with the environment.

For my ecological concern (coral bleaching due to climate change), here are a few elements that can help me better understand this given environment.

First of all, carbon dioxide is one compound that is very closely related to the problem of coral bleaching. It's first important to understand that coral bleaching is caused by rising ocean temperatures, which are caused by climate change. Climate change is caused by carbon dioxide being excessively released into the air. This carbon dioxide comes mostly from burning fossil fuels, such as coal, which is mostly made up of elements like CARBON, HYDROGEN, OXYGEN, NITROGEN, and SULPHUR. The carbon dioxide being released into the air forms a sort of "blanket" around the atmosphere.  This layer of carbon dioxide makes it very difficult for excess heat in the atmosphere to escape, making the global temperature escalate. But carbon dioxide itself is not an element, it's a compound. The elements that make up this compound are CARBON and OXYGEN.

The second element that is important is HYDROGEN. Hydrogen is an element present in the compound known as water. Water is important to this ecosystem because it's an aquatic marine ecosystem.

Knowing that carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, and sulphur are key players in this ecosystem will give us a better insight as to how to protect it.

Image by vubp on Pixabay

Sources: Sciencing, Wikipedia, USGS