Anthropogenic Carbon and Ocean pH

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Anthropogenic Carbon and ocean pH
The article discusses the issues concerning the lowering of the pH of the ocean and thus making them more acidic. This is mostly due to human activities like the burning of fossil that is eventually absorbed by the oceans. As known, the ocean is the primary absorber of carbon dioxide and thus eliminates the high amount of carbon dioxide that is present in the atmosphere of the earth. It is therefore very critical to the survival of living things. In this manner, the lowering of the pH of the ocean, affects this aquatic life, in one way or another. This article is therefore related to oceanography as it deals with the physical properties, i.e., acidity and biological properties that are living organisms.
According to Caldeira et al. (365), most of the carbon dioxide that is produced through the burning of fossil fuel is eventually absorbed by the oceans. When carbon dioxide is absorbed, it dissolves in water and thus lowers the pH; making it more acidic. Although little is known about the effects of acidity on aquatic life, it is apparent that calcareous plankton, coral reefs and several organisms that have calcium carbonate as their shell or skeleton, will be affected. This is attributed to the fact that there is a greater possibility for the acid to corrode them. Moreover, the organisms that live closer to the surface of the oceans will be more affected, due to the most significant occurrence of the change in pH, and Deepwater life would also be more sensitive to the change in pH changes.

To investigate the effects of CO2 emission, the researchers forced the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory ocean general circulation model, with the atmospheric pressure (CO2) that was observed from the year 1975 to 2000 (Caldeira et al. 365). In the model, the remaining fossil fuel that is to be burnt, follow a logistic function beyond the year 2100. Moreover, the simulation of the model predicts that in 2300, the CO2 in the atmosphere will exceed 1900 parts per million. Therefore, pH reduction at the surface of the ocean is 0.77. However, due to weathering, changes in temperature, and sedimentation, the maximum reduction will reduce by 10% (Caldeira et al. 365).
An estimates review of palaeo-atmospheric CO2 levels showed that the concentrations were never less than 100 p.p.m and more than 7500 p.p.m during the past 300million years. Furthermore, the highest concentrations that were recorded were mostly due to the slow process of biological evolution and tectonics. Recent changes in the levels of CO2 in the atmosphere were obtained using four-box atmosphere/ocean model. The researchers also carried out a succession of experimentations that involved liner variation of atmospheric CO2 that range from values during the pre-industry to the values where emission stabilizes from intervals of 10-103 years. In the process, they also noted the predicted changes in the pH ocean-surface (Caldeira et al. 365).
The results of the models showed that the continued emissions of carbon dioxide from the fossil fuels, into the atmosphere, can lead to 0.7 units reduction in the pH of the ocean. The research concluded that unrestricted and indiscriminate CO2 emissions into the atmosphere over the coming years might produce changes more significant than those experienced in the past 300 million years (Caldeira et al. 365). However, the results did not include possible emissions due to natural phenomena like volcanic eruptions.

Works Cited
Caldeira, Ken, and Michael E. Wickett. “Oceanography: Anthropogenic carbon and ocean pH.” Nature 425.6956 (2003): 365.