Ocean acidification is sometimes called “climate change’s evil twin,” and for a good reason: it's a significant and harmful consequence of excess carbon dioxide in the atmosphere that we don't see or feel because its effects are happening underwater. At least one-quarter of the carbon dioxide (CO2) released by burning coal, oil and gas doesn't stay in the air, but instead dissolves into the ocean. Since the beginning of the industrial era, the ocean has absorbed some 525 billion tons of CO2 from the atmosphere, presently around 22 million tons per day.
At first, scientists thought that this might be a good thing because it leaves less carbon dioxide in the air to warm the planet. But in the past ten years, they’ve realized that this slowed …show more content…
Although scientists have been tracking ocean pH for more than 30 years, biological studies really only started in 2003, when the rapid change caught their attention and the term "ocean acidification" was first coined. What we do know is that things are going to look different, and we can't predict in any detail how they will look. Some organisms will survive or even thrive under the more acidic conditions while others will struggle to adapt, and may even go extinct. Beyond the lost of some variety of life, acidification will affect fisheries and aquaculture, threatening food security for millions of people, as well as tourism and other sea-related economies.
At its core, the issue of ocean acidification is simple chemistry. There are two important things to remember about what happens when carbon dioxide dissolves in seawater. First, the pH of seawater water gets lower as it becomes more acidic. Second, this process binds up carbonate ions and makes them less plentiful—ions that corals, oysters, mussels, and many other shelled organisms need to build shells and …show more content…
With increased use of fossil fuels, that number is now approaching 400 ppm and the growth rate is accelerating. Scientists calculate that the ocean is currently absorbing about one quarter of the carbon dioxide that humans are emitting. When carbon dioxide combines with seawater, chemical reactions occur that reduce the seawater pH, hence the term ocean acidification.
Currently, about half of the anthropogenic (human-caused) carbon dioxide in the ocean which is found in the upper 400 meters (1,200 feet) of the water column, while the other half has penetrated into the lower thermocline and deep ocean. Density- and wind-driven circulation help mix the surface and deep waters in some high latitude and coastal regions, but for much of the open ocean, deep pH changes are expected to lag surface pH changes by a few centuries.
At first, scientists thought that this might be a good thing because it leaves less carbon dioxide in the air to warm the planet. But in the past ten years, they’ve realized that this slowed …show more content…
Although scientists have been tracking ocean pH for more than 30 years, biological studies really only started in 2003, when the rapid change caught their attention and the term "ocean acidification" was first coined. What we do know is that things are going to look different, and we can't predict in any detail how they will look. Some organisms will survive or even thrive under the more acidic conditions while others will struggle to adapt, and may even go extinct. Beyond the lost of some variety of life, acidification will affect fisheries and aquaculture, threatening food security for millions of people, as well as tourism and other sea-related economies.
At its core, the issue of ocean acidification is simple chemistry. There are two important things to remember about what happens when carbon dioxide dissolves in seawater. First, the pH of seawater water gets lower as it becomes more acidic. Second, this process binds up carbonate ions and makes them less plentiful—ions that corals, oysters, mussels, and many other shelled organisms need to build shells and …show more content…
With increased use of fossil fuels, that number is now approaching 400 ppm and the growth rate is accelerating. Scientists calculate that the ocean is currently absorbing about one quarter of the carbon dioxide that humans are emitting. When carbon dioxide combines with seawater, chemical reactions occur that reduce the seawater pH, hence the term ocean acidification.
Currently, about half of the anthropogenic (human-caused) carbon dioxide in the ocean which is found in the upper 400 meters (1,200 feet) of the water column, while the other half has penetrated into the lower thermocline and deep ocean. Density- and wind-driven circulation help mix the surface and deep waters in some high latitude and coastal regions, but for much of the open ocean, deep pH changes are expected to lag surface pH changes by a few centuries.