Acidification

Ocean Acidification

General

Ocean Acidification is defined as the process by which the acidity of ocean water increases, as pH lowers, due to an increase in the burning of fossil fuels by human industrialization. This causes an increase in carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, which is then absorbed by the ocean, leading to an imbalance in the chemistry of ocean water, which results in the pH lowering. This process has severe implications for marine ecosystems.

Mechanism

• Ocean Acidification results as the equilibrium of oceanic chemistry is disrupted.
• It is driven by the burning of fossil fuels by humans that results in an increase in carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.
• About one quarter of the CO2 that we release is absorbed by the ocean, so we are not only affecting the atmosphere but also the ocean.
• CO2 (aq) + H2O \leftrightarrow H2CO3 \leftrightarrow HCO3− + H+ \leftrightarrow CO32− + 2 H+

Where it's happening

• Location based studies on Ocean Acidification
  • 1) Coral Triangle- An evident rise in the disintegration of skeletons of hermatypic corals and shellfish.
  • 2) Florida Reef Tract- Collection of carbonate chemistry data shows an increase in the aragonite saturation values that reduce calcification rates of organisms.
  • 3) Great Barrier Reef- Sampling of Porites coral colonies reveals a decrease in growth of 13% across the reef.
  • 4) Tyyrhenian Sea- Declining variety and absence of organisms previously abundant in the area; evidence of seawater corrosion from rising CO2.