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Ocean acidification is the ongoing decrease in the pH of the Earth's ocean. Between 1950 and 2020, the average pH of the ocean surface fell from approximately 8.15 to 8.05. [ 2 ] Carbon dioxide emissions from human activities are the primary cause of ocean acidification, with atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO 2) levels exceeding 422 ppm (as of ...
Ocean acidification threatens the fundamental chemical balance of our oceans, creating conditions that eat away at essential minerals like calcium carbonate. A lack of aragonite and decreasing pH levels in ocean water makes it harder for calcifying organisms such as oysters, clams, lobsters, shrimp and coral reefs to build their shells and ...
Ocean acidification is caused by the equilibration of the atmosphere with the ocean, a process that occurs worldwide. Carbon dioxide in the atmosphere equilibrates and dissolves into the ocean. During this reaction, carbon dioxide reacts with water to form carbonic acid. The carbonic acid then dissociates into bicarbonate ions and hydrogen ions ...
The carbonate pump is sometimes referred to as the "hard tissue" component of the biological pump. [45] Some surface marine organisms, like coccolithophores, produce hard structures out of calcium carbonate, a form of particulate inorganic carbon, by fixing bicarbonate. [46] This fixation of DIC is an important part of the oceanic carbon cycle.
Coral bleaching is the process when corals become white due to loss of symbiotic algae and photosynthetic pigments. This loss of pigment can be caused by various stressors, such as changes in temperature, light, or nutrients. [ 1 ][ 2 ] Bleaching occurs when coral polyps expel the zooxanthellae (dinoflagellates that are commonly referred to as ...
e. Marine biogenic calcification is the production of calcium carbonate by organisms in the global ocean. Marine biogenic calcification is the biologically mediated process by which marine organisms produce and deposit calcium carbonate minerals to form skeletal structures or hard tissues. This process is a fundamental aspect of the life cycle ...
Example Bjerrum plot: Change in carbonate system of seawater from ocean acidification.. A Bjerrum plot (named after Niels Bjerrum), sometimes also known as a Sillén diagram (after Lars Gunnar Sillén), or a Hägg diagram (after Gunnar Hägg) [1] is a graph of the concentrations of the different species of a polyprotic acid in a solution, as a function of pH, [2] when the solution is at ...
2 levels rise to 500 ppm because concentrations of carbonate ions may then be too low. [58] [59] In summary, ocean warming is the primary cause of mass coral bleaching and mortality (very high confidence), which, together with ocean acidification, deteriorates the balance between coral reef construction and erosion (high confidence). [60]