Defenders of Wildlife Carbon Dioxide & Ocean Acidification
The world’s oceans play a tremendously important role in the global dynamics of the carbon dioxide (CO2) that is released by the burning of fossil fuels, the clearing of forests, and industrial processes. Through biological and chemical processes, oceans take up nearly 22 million metric tons of CO2...
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| Language: | English |
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| Online Access: | http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.230.6279 http://www.defenders.org/resources/publications/programs_and_policy/gw/carbon_dioxide_%26_ocean_acidification.pdf |
| Summary: | The world’s oceans play a tremendously important role in the global dynamics of the carbon dioxide (CO2) that is released by the burning of fossil fuels, the clearing of forests, and industrial processes. Through biological and chemical processes, oceans take up nearly 22 million metric tons of CO2 every day-- roughly a quarter of the carbon dioxide emitted every year, and without them, the atmospheric concentration would stand at roughly 442 parts per million (ppm), rather than the 387 ppm where it stands today. While these changes have helped to buffer the terrestrial world from the impacts of climate change, they are not without impact to the marine realm. chemical formula H2CO3). The defining feature of an acid is that hydrogen (H +) atoms can easily escape from it, in this case leaving behind bicarbonate (HCO3-) ion. The |
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