Ocean acidification is the ongoing decrease in the pH of the Earth's oceans, caused by the uptake of carbon dioxide (CO2 from the atmosphere. The main cause of ocean acidification is the burning of fossil fuels. Seawater is slightly basic (meaning pH > 7), and ocean acidification involves a shift towards pH-neutral conditions rather than a transition to acidic conditions (pH < 7). The issue of ocean acidification is the decreased production of the shells of shellfish and other aquatic life with calcium carbonate shells. The calcium carbonate shells can not reproduce under high saturated acidotic waters. An estimated 30–40% of the carbon dioxide from human activity released into the atmosphere dissolves into oceans, rivers and lakes. Some of it reacts with the water to form carbonic acid. Some of the resulting carbonic acid molecules dissociate into a bicarbonate ion and a hydrogen ion, thus increasing ocean acidity (H+ ion concentration). Between 1751 and 1996, surface ocean pH is estimated to have decreased from approximately 8.25 to 8.14, representing an increase of almost 30% in H+ ion concentration in the world's oceans.Earth System Models project that, by around 2008, ocean acidity exceeded historical analoguesand, in combination with other ocean biogeochemical changes, could undermine the functioning of marine ecosystems and disrupt the provision of many goods and services associated with the ocean beginning as early as 2100.
Sample Chapter(s)
Preface (60 KB)
Components of the Book:
- Chapter 1
Differences in neurochemical profiles of two gadid species under ocean warming and acidification
- Chapter 2
Gene expression correlated with delay in shell formation in larval Pacific oysters(Crassostrea gigas) exposed to experimental ocean acidification provides insights into shell formation mechanisms
- Chapter 3
Ocean acidification and desalination: climate-driven change in a Baltic Sea summer microplanktonic community
- Chapter 4
Ocean acidification promotes broad transcriptomic responses in marine metazoans: a literature survey
- Chapter 5
Resistance of Arctic phytoplankton to ocean acidification and enhanced irradiance
- Chapter 6
Volcanic CO2 seep geochemistry and use in understanding ocean acidification
- Chapter 7
Contrasting impacts of ocean acidification and warming on the molecular responses of CO2-resilient oysters
- Chapter 8
The development of contemporary European sea bass larvae (Dicentrarchus labrax) is not affected by projected ocean acidifcation scenarios
- Chapter 9
Ecological and functional consequences of coastal ocean acidification: Perspectives from the Baltic-Skagerrak System
- Chapter 10
Coastal ocean acidification and nitrogen loading facilitate invasions of the non-indigenous red macroalga, Dasysiphonia japonica
- Chapter 11
Societal causes of,and responsesto,ocean acidification
- Chapter 12
Transcriptomic response of the Antarctic pteropod Limacina helicina antarctica to ocean acidification
- Chapter 13
Transcriptomic response of the Antarctic pteropod Limacina helicina antarctica to ocean acidification
- Chapter 14
Mitochondrial acclimation potential to ocean acidification and warming of Polar cod (Boreogadussaida) and Atlanticcod (Gadusmorhua)
- Chapter 15
Ocean Acidification Amplifies the Olfactory Response to 2-Phenylethylamine: Altered Cue Reception as a Mechanistic Pathway?
Readership:
Students, academics, teachers and other people attending or interested in ocean acidification.
Christian Bock, Alfred-Wegener-Institute Helmholtz-Centre for Polar- and Marine Research, Section Integrative Ecophysiology, Bremerhaven, Germany
Pierre De Wit, Department of Marine Sciences, University of Gothenburg, Str?mstad, Sweden
Gretchen E. Hofmann, Department of Ecology, Evolution and Marine Biology, University of California Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, USA
C. J. M. Hoppe, Department of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada
J. M. Hall-Spencer, School of Biological and Marine Sciences, University of Plymouth, Plymouth, UK
and more...