Factors such as ocean currents, large continental rivers diluting seawater salinity, ice melt, and the deposition of nitrogen and sulfur from fossil fuel burning and agriculture also influence ocean acidity. There is a variation in sea-surface pH globally with colder and higher latitude oceans having the ability to dissolve more CO 2 as well as lower bicarbonate saturation levels, further decreasing the ability of marine organisms to produce hard shells. The calcium carbonate-shelled organisms can not reproduce under high saturated acidotic waters. Ocean acidification can lead to decreased production of the shells of shellfish and other aquatic life with calcium carbonate shells, as well as some other physiological challenges for marine organisms. Ocean acidification will result in a shift towards a lower pH value, meaning the water will become less basic and therefore more acidic. The ocean's pH value as of 2020 was 8.1, meaning it is currently lightly basic (the pH being higher than 7). Between 17, the pH value of the ocean surface is estimated to have decreased from approximately 8.25 to 8.14, representing an increase of almost 30% in H + ion concentration in the world's oceans (the pH scale is logarithmic, so a change of one in pH unit is equivalent to a tenfold change in H + ion concentration). Some of the carbonic acid molecules dissociate into a bicarbonate ion and a hydrogen ion, thus increasing ocean acidity ( H + ion concentration). When carbon dioxide dissolves into seawater, it forms carbonic acid (H 2CO 3).
#OCEAN ACIDIFICATION SERIES#
This leads to a series of chemical reactions in the seawater which has a negative spillover on the ocean and species living below water. As the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere increases, the amount of carbon dioxide absorbed by the ocean also increases. Modern ocean acidification is caused by the burning of fossil fuels. Ocean acidification is the ongoing decrease in the pH value of the Earth's oceans, caused by the uptake of carbon dioxide (CO 2) from the atmosphere.
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