Spencer Dahl, Jingwei Deng, Ji Soo Yim
As global warming and climate change has gained traction as a pressing issue in the scientific world, the general public has learned about and formed opinions on the phenomenon. However, a lesser-known environmental concern has arisen amidst the climate change discussion – ocean acidification. Given the general public’s exposure to climate change, we questioned the prevalence of similar measures to educate the public on the issue. The purpose of our survey was to evaluate the general population’s awareness of ocean acidification and its implications. We presented questions concerning climate change, the causes and effects of ocean acidification, political identification, and personal opinion towards ocean acidification in order to juxtapose responses and find a pattern that will represent the general public view on ocean acidification. After conducting the survey, we found that the majority of our respondents lacked substantial knowledge on the issue with half of them having scarcely heard of the phenomenon at all. Their lack of exposure to the subject was further demonstrated in their incorrect responses on questions concerning the causes and effects of ocean acidification. Although the majority of the respondents lacked knowledge on the subject, their opinions on the matter tended to show concern towards the implications of ocean acidification and optimism towards individual and governmental initiatives to mitigate its effects. Based on the survey results, we concluded that while ocean acidification has an insufficient audience, there is potential for that to change if measures are taken to increase awareness on the issue.