For decades researchers are trying to investigate the interrelationship between near surface atmospheric CO2, Dissolved Inorganic Carbon (DIC) and pH of the aquatic phase. This paper attempts to evaluate the same considering ten stations along the Gangetic stretch in and around the city of Kolkata, which is supporting a population of 14.9 million as per the record of 2021. The high population density of the city coupled with several industrial and anthropogenic activities increased the near surface atmospheric CO2 level as witnessed during the Pre-Covid-19 phase (14 th April, 2019). However, during the Covid-19 lockdown phase of 2020 (12 th May, 2020), the CO2 level exhibited a significant dip, which again slightly increased during the Post-Covid-19 lockdown phase on 5 th June 2020. We observe a significant direct correlation between atmospheric CO2 and DIC during all the phases of Covid-19. Also significant negative correlations were observed between atmospheric CO2 level and pH of the aquatic phase during the same period of time. The overall result suggests that shifting of the pH value towards the left of the normal value confirms the pulse of acidification in the Gangetic stretch in and around the city of Kolkata.
Ahmed S., Gobato R., Mitra A. & Zaman S., 2022. Pulse of acidification in the Gangetic water in and around the megacity of Kolkata, India. ResearchGate. Article.
