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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.
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 ...
The ocean has been experiencing ocean acidification due to humans increasing in the atmosphere. [14] About 30% of the C O 2 {\displaystyle \mathrm {CO_{2}} } that is released in the atmosphere is absorbed by the ocean, [ 14 ] and the increase in C O 2 {\displaystyle \mathrm {CO_{2}} } absorption results in an increase in H+ ion production. [ 15 ]
Ocean acidification, which is also caused by increasing carbon dioxide concentrations in the atmosphere, will increase such dissolution and shallow the carbonate compensation depth on timescales of tens to hundreds of years.
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.
An ocean without a biological pump, which transfers roughly 11 Gt C yr −1 into the ocean's interior, would result in atmospheric CO 2 levels ~400 ppm higher than present day. [ 97 ] [ 98 ] [ 61 ] Passow and Carlson defined sedimentation out of the surface layer (at approximately 100 m depth) as the "export flux" and that out of the ...
Calcifying organisms are particularly at risk due to changes in the chemical composition of ocean water associated with ocean acidification. As pH decreases due to ocean acidification, the availability of carbonate ions (CO 3 2-) in seawater also decreases. Therefore, calcifying organisms experience difficulty building and maintaining their ...
The list of organisms that may struggle due to ocean acidification include coccolithophores and foraminifera (the base of the marine food chain in many areas), human food sources such as oysters and mussels, [69] and perhaps the most conspicuous, a structure built by organisms – the coral reefs. [68]