Changing World Oceans Ocean Acidification © Copyright 2014 - all rights reserved .

© Copyright 2014 - all rights reserved www.cpalms.org

Changing World Oceans

Ocean Acidification


The Carbon Cycle

The Global Carbon Cycle. Graphic by Walter Denn, LBNL, 2010.http://www.arm.gov/news/features/post/15256


pH Scale

• 7 is neutral• Lower pH values are more acidic• Higher pH values are more basic• The pH scale is a log scale

5 6 7 8 9

10 times more H+ ions




How Does The Ocean Get Acidified?

http://www.pmel.noaa.gov/co2/story/Ocean+Acidification

Chemical Reaction CO2 and H2O

CO2 + H2O H2CO3 HCO3- + H+


carbon dioxide

water carbonic acid

Bicarbonate ion

Hydrogen ion

• An acid is something that produces an excess of hydrogen ions

• The more acidic a solution is, the lower the pH and the more the H+ ions


Pteropod SEM

• Acid is etching away the surface of the shell

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/c/c5/Impacts_of_ocean_acidification_%28NOAA_EVL%29.webm/Impacts_of_ocean_acidification_%28NOAA_EVL%29.webm.480p.webm

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/c/c5/Impacts_of_ocean_acidification_(NOAA_EVL).webm/Impacts_of_ocean_acidification_(NOAA_EVL).webm.480p.webm


How Will Acidification Affect Marine Organisms?

• Pteropod shells malformed

http://www.noaanews.noaa.gov/stories2014/20140430_oceanacidification.html

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6H_VDhXiFk4


http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/images/impacts-adaptation/ArcticMarineFoodWeb-large.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/impacts-adaptation/ecosystems.html&h=487&w=549&tbnid=CApYIIThsvZnPM&zoom=1&tbnh=211&tbnw=238&usg=__jRhZycMJZXkJJ-Ig70I-N9fopVA=


High Mag Calcitic Phytoplankton• May not be as susceptible to acidification as

aragonitic and calcitic organisms

http://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coccolith#mediaviewer/File:Coccolithophore_bloom.jpg

http://shadow.eas.gatech.edu/~kcobb/ocean_acid/Kroeker%20et%20al%202010.pdf (reading)


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wo-bHt1bOsw



The Earth Will Adapt. . .

• But will we?• Will our quality of life change?• These are reasons among others

that we need to be good stewards of our environment.


Changing World Oceans Ocean Acidification © Copyright 2014 - all rights reserved .

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