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.

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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

To truly visualize a carbonated ocean,

you have to look to it’s effects:

dissolving the shells & skeletons of marine creatures

as the ocean turns increasingly acidic.