Search results
Results From The WOW.Com Content Network
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 ...
Ocean acidification is now on a path to reach lower pH levels than at any other point in the last 300 million years. [83] [73] The rate of ocean acidification (i.e. the rate of change in pH value) is also estimated to be unprecedented over that same time scale. [84] [14] These expected changes are considered unprecedented in the geological record.
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. [ 21 ] 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 ...
The balance of these carbonate species (which ultimately affects the solubility of carbon dioxide), is dependent on factors such as pH, as shown in a Bjerrum plot.In seawater this is regulated by the charge balance of a number of positive (e.g. Na +, K +, Mg 2+, Ca 2+) and negative (e.g. CO 3 2− itself, Cl −, SO 4 2−, Br −) ions.
Water is the medium of the oceans, the medium which carries all the substances and elements involved in the marine biogeochemical cycles. Water as found in nature almost always includes dissolved substances, so water has been described as the "universal solvent" for its ability to dissolve so many substances.
It is believed that this high stress environment will cause ocean acidification factors to have a stronger effect on these organisms. It could also cause these effects to appear in the Arctic before it appears in other parts of the ocean. There is a significant variation in the sensitivity of marine organisms to increased ocean acidification.
There are several other factors that influence the atmosphere-ocean CO 2 exchange, and thus local ocean acidification. These include ocean currents and upwelling zones, proximity to large continental rivers, sea ice coverage, and atmospheric exchange with nitrogen and sulfur from fossil fuel burning and agriculture .
While ocean acidification occurs due to the ongoing decrease in the pH of the Earth's oceans, caused by the absorption of carbon dioxide (CO 2) from the atmosphere, [1] pH change in estuaries is more complicated than in the open ocean due to direct impacts from land run-off, human impact, and coastal current dynamics.