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Acidification of the Oceans
There has been much discussion in recent years about the effect of increasing global temperatures on marine fauna (see also the last issue of this magazine). However, it has often been overlooked that the increasing acidity of the oceans may have an even greater, and more insidious, effect on marine life than just a simple rise in temperature.
Published in X-Ray Issue:
22 - Mar 2008
Authored by: Michael Symes | Photography: | Translation:
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Acidity of the oceans
Although acid rain, which contains nitric acid and sulphuric acid, falls into the oceans, it is the absorption of CO2 from the atmosphere that is the most important contributor to oceanic acidity. This is because the shells of many marine creatures are made of calcium carbonate, which is a salt of carbonic acid, and which itself derives from CO2. Any change, therefore, in the concentration of CO2 in sea water could have drastic consequenÂces for marine invertebrates in particular and thereby marine life in general.
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The absorbtion of CO2 may have slowed global warming, but there has been a resulting change in seawater chemistry. To understand why the effect of increasing atmospheric CO2, which leads to increased absorbtion of CO2 in sea water, is important, it is necessary to understand some of the chemistry of carbonic acid and its salts. However, before we can discuss the effect of this acidity, we must have a useful description of what we mean by acidity and acid strength. The most common and useful unit to describe the magnitude of acidity is the pH value.
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Acidity of the oceans
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