Ocean Acidification:

The Other Carbon Problem

Fall 2010, Lecture 12

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 Carbonic Acid
• Carbon dioxide combines with water in the
atmosphere to form carbonic acid
o CO2 + H2O → H2CO3
• It can also dissolve in ocean water directly from the
atmosphere
• Carbonic acid is present in all carbonated beverages –
cola, beer, champagne…
• It is a weak acid, but is produced in enormous
quantities
• Rainwater is naturally acidic because it contains some
carbonic acid
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 Acidity Scale
• pH.swf
• Acid is usually measured on
a scale called the pH scale,
which ranges from 0
(highly acidic) to 7 (neutral)
to 14 (highly alkaline), as
the figure shows
• Natural rainwater has a pH of around 5.5-5.6, but this
varies from place to place
• pH is defined as:
o pH = - log [H+] , where [H+] is the hydrogen ion
concentration
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 Addition of Carbonic Acid to the
Ocean
• The increase in carbon dioxide levels in the
atmosphere also means that more carbonic acid
is added to the ocean
• Carbonic acid is more soluble in cold water
than warm, so more carbon dioxide is added to
polar oceans
• That is gradually reducing the pH of the ocean,
with several unfavorable consequences
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CO2 Enters the Ocean
• Part 1: Half of the CO2
introduced into the
atmosphere since the
start of the Industrial
Revolution has been
absorbed by the ocean
• Part 2: It combines to
form carbonic acid

5

• pH values have been
reduced by more than 0.1 pH
units since the start of the
industrial revolution
• By the end of the 21st
century, it is estimated pH
will fall another 0.3-0.4 units
Carbonate
Reduction
• Part 3: Carbonic acid
raises the hydrogen ion
concentration and
reduces the carbonate
ion (CO32-)
• Organisms need
carbonate ion to form
shell material, so this
hinders that activity
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 Continuing Damage
• Carbon dioxide already in the atmosphere will
ensure that this problem will continue to grow
worse for at least a century and probably
longer
• As more carbon dioxide is added to the
atmosphere, the effects will increase

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 Effects on Life
• As waters become more acidic, organisms like
plankton, coral, and mollusks will have trouble
building and maintaining internal skeletons or
exoskeletons
• This will also affect the ocean food chain
• Plankton are the base of the food chain so any
reduction in planktonic abundance will deplete
available food for almost all higher organisms

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 Global
Variation in
Marine pH

• pH varies from region to region

• Areas with lower pH values (more acidic) are often
the result of the upwelling of cold, deep, CO2 rich
waters
• The west coast of Africa and, especially, of South
America show this effect 9
 Warm-Water Coral Reefs
• Calcification rates of warm-water corals may
drop by 50-60%
• This will have adverse effects on the structure
of the reef
o Growth depends on the corals growing faster than
the reef is eroded
o Weak structures will suffer more erosion from
storms and large waves

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 Cold-Water Coral Reefs
• These reefs provide vital habit for commercially
important fish species
o They often serve as a “nursery” providing habitat and
protection for young fish until they grow large enough to
have a chance to survive in open waters
• Conservative estimates are that 50-70% could find
themselves under threat by the end of the century
• Some scientists say the end will come much quicker

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 Plankton
• The term “Plankton” covers a variety of
species
• Some are unaffected by increased acidity
• Others, such as the coccolithophores (single-
celled algae) show marked decreases in
calcification rates when exposed to acidic
waters
• Plankton are also adversely affected by
increasing water temperature
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 Plankton and Water Temperature
• An article in the July 29, 2010 issue of Nature
by Boyce et al. claimed that plankton biomass
has been declining at a rate ∼ 1% of the global
median per year
• This work was based on satellite data, as well
as observations of ocean transparency from
Secchi dish observations dating from 1899

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 The Importance of Plankton

• Plankton account for approximately half the

production of organic matter on Earth
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 Plankton Biomass as a Climate
Feedback
• A reduction in plankton abundance thus affects
the entire marine food chain
• It also reduces the oceans ability to absorb
carbon dioxide, since the plankton use carbon
dioxide to create organic matter, and excrete
oxygen as a bye-product
• This creates another positive feedback for
climate change

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 Geoengineering Climate Change
Using Plankton
• One group has proposed artificially bringing
cold, nutrient rich waters to the surface in
order to increase plankton production and
reduce carbon dioxide in the atmosphere
• The video on the next slide discusses this idea

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“The Power of Plankton”

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 Invertebrates
• Mollusks, such as mussels and clams, appear
to suffer from thinning of their shells
o Juveniles are more susceptible than adults
o This could cause population depletion

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 Sea grasses
• Some work indicates that sea grasses grow
better in high CO2 waters
• Grass offers a valuable feeding and spawning
site for a variety of species
o Some of these are commercially valuable fish
• More research will be needed to determine
overall affect on the marine food chain

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 Effect on the
Carbon Cycle
• The oceans absorb
carbon in two main
ways - physically
and biologically

• Exchange of carbon dioxide between the atmosphere

and the ocean has been a sink for CO2, reducing the
amount of CO2 in the air
• It is estimated that 50% of global CO2 currently enter
the oceans
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 Physical Absorption
• CO2 dissolves into cold ocean water near the poles
• It is carried to the deep ocean by sinking currents,
• The deep ocean residence time is hundreds of years
• Thermal mixing eventually returns the water to the
surface, and the ocean emits carbon dioxide into the
atmosphere in tropical regions
• This natural carbon pump moves carbon from the
atmosphere into the sea for storage

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 Biological Absorption
• The biological absorption of CO2 involves
phytoplankton
o They use sunlight, water and dissolved CO2 to
produce carbohydrates and oxygen
• When the plankton, or the sea animals that eat
the plankton die, they sink to the ocean floor
• A small percentage of the carbon in the
creatures' remains is eventually buried and
stored in the sediment
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 Feedback
• Ocean acidification will likely reduce plankton
blooms in the ocean
• This will result in less CO2 absorption in the
ocean, with more CO2 remaining in the
atmosphere, creating a positive feedback
• This will warm the oceans further, possibly
leading to even less absorption

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 Heat Transfer in a Cold Ocean
• When the oceans are cold, the upper layers are
relatively dense
• It is easier to mix surficial layers with
underlying waters
• Mixing transfers both chemicals and heat
• This means dissolved CO2 and heat will be
more easily distributed through a large volume
of ocean

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 Heat Transfer in a Warmer Ocean
• When the ocean surface warms, it becomes
less dense
• The density difference between surficial and
deeper waters is greater
• This impedes mixing, which means dissolved
CO2 and heat will be trapped in the surface
layer
• The ocean will gradually become stratified

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 Thermal Stratification
• If the ocean is warm enough, it may begin to
behave like many lakes
• Layers of different temperature will form,
creating a thermally stratified ocean
• If the temperature differences are sufficient,
thermal stratification can be stable over long
periods
• Stratification inhibits mixing, and may finally
cut off mixing entirely
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 Effects of Stratification
• Lack of mixing prevents upwelling of cold,
nutrient rich waters, which will lower the
biologic productivity of the ocean
• Deeper waters will have less oxygen, and
portion may be anoixic
• Stratification will inhibit CO2 absorption from
the atmosphere even further, leading to greater
warming

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 Mixing Times for Heat
• When the earth is cooling, the oceans mix
easily, and heat, or lack thereof, is quickly
distributed through the ocean
• When the earth is warming, the oceans will
mix with increasing difficulty, and heat is
concentrated in the surface layers

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 Ocean Acidification Video

• Dr. Graham Phillips of the Australian Broadcasting

Corporation (ABC) interviews Dr. Will Howard and
Dr. Charlie Vernon.
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 NOAA
Ocean
Acidification

• Dr. Jane Lubchenco has been the administrator of

NOAA since March 20, 2009
• Her specialty is marine ecology
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