Fundamental changes to marine chemistry are occurring because of increasing carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere. Ocean acidity (H+ concentration) and bicarbonate ion concentrations are increasing, whereas carbonate ion concentrations are decreasing. There has already been an average pH decrease of 0.1 in the upper ocean, and continued unconstrained carbon emissions would further reduce average upper ocean pH by approximately 0.3 by 2100.
Resource type: article
Resource format: document/pdf
The Royal Society Publishing: Philosophical Transactions of Royal Society A – Matematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences, 1 September 2012. Resource.