User submission

I Performed Underwater Holding Dissolving Shells To Convey The Effects Of Ocean Acidification

In my latest underwater ARTivism campaign, my aim was to show how the solutions to ocean acidification are in our hands.

Photographer, Chiara Salomoni of Mermaids for Change and I teamed up to honor World Oceans Day, creating otherworldly underwater sets that convey this little-known chemical process and all its tragic effects.

If climate change had an evil twin, it would undeniably be ocean acidification; a process initiated by elevated atmospheric C02 dissolving into seawater that sets off a chain of complex chemical reactions ultimately transforming the ocean into an increasingly acidic state.

The result? Shell-based and calcium carbonate-building marine creatures, such as coral reefs, begin a slow, disturbing process of dissolving.

If the health and fate of our ocean is so intertwined with ours, I know I want to be able to say that I’m investing in a future for both of us.

HERE’S WHAT YOU CAN DO:

Invest in a new future for both us and ocean by reducing your meat consumption in favor of a plant-based lifestyle.

Animal agriculture is one of the largest sources of methane gas and carbon dioxide emissions, the key drivers of climate change, and its evil twin ocean acidification.

Use #WorldOceansDay2018 to share your commitment and journey online.

————

CREDITS

Art direction, video editor & model: Christine Ren, The Underwater Woman

Photography: Chiara Salomoni of Mermaids For Change

MUA/ hair: Jacqueline Holden

BTS footage: Edward Tsai

BTS photo: Breanna Dickson

Set assistant: Karly Place

More info: theunderwaterwoman.com