Anthropogenic Carbon Dioxide On The Southern Ocean Essay

Over the years Carbon Dioxide has been significantly increasing from human activity. CO2 has a concentration of about 400 ppmv (parts per million volume). Its concentration in the atmosphere was about 280 ppmv before the Industrial Revolution, now it has increased immensely to about 380 ppmv in 2006. Many have said Carbon Dioxide has been the main reason or cause of global warming; saying that if we produce too much of this greenhouse gas it can create a global climate change. Even though carbon dioxide affects the temperature of the atmosphere it also affects the acidity of water specifically in the ocean.

This increase in oceanic inorganic carbon has offset the seawater carbonate chemistry by causing increasing concentrations of CO2 and bicarbonate, while causing decreasing concentrations of carbonate and pH levels (Dedmer 2013). Rost and colleagues (2008) express that emissions of fossil fuel have caused an immense increase in the levels of atmospheric CO2, which are then deposited into the surface water of oceans. This increase in carbonic acid is in turn decreasing the pH balance, which poses a threat to marine organisms.

Since the beginning of the industrial revolution, mankind has slowly increased the total greenhouse gas emissions that enter the atmosphere. Over time, this pollution began to add up. Now planet Earth is struggling to maintain its health with the combined forces of global warming and ocean acidification looking to bring demise. From all portions of the world, troubling changes are emerging in the chemistry of our oceans’ waters. The oceans takes in around a quarter of the Carbon Dioxide that mankind releases into the atmosphere every year, so as atmospheric Carbon Dioxide levels rise, so do the

Ocean acidification is known as a significant and destructive issue of a substantial amount of carbon dioxide that enters the atmosphere and settles in the ocean. Humans are not able to see or feel this happening based on the fact its process only occurs underwater. Each day the ocean consumes twenty two million tons of carbon dioxide, which originates from burning fossil fuels and destruction of park trees. Carbon dioxide fuses with water, which then generates it to become

The ocean absorbs up to 30% of the Carbon Dioxide which is released into the world.

Ocean acidification is the constant increase of acidity in the Earth’s oceans, caused by the unceasingly rising levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Anthropogenic CO2 is mainly emitted by the burning of fossil fuels, including coal, oil, and natural gas. Since the

The main effect of climate change on our oceans, apart from temperature increases, is acidification—that is, an increase in the acidity of the water (or a decrease in its pH). And the cause of this increase in acidity is the same CO2

At least two hundred percent of the carbon dioxide released by burning coal, oil and gas doesn't stay in the air. It instead dissolves into the ocean. Since the beginning of the industrial era, the ocean has absorbed some 525 billion tons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Today, it absorbs around twenty two million tons per

As the carbon dioxide (CO2) level in the atmosphere rises, as a result of ongoing burning of fossil fuels and emissions from land-use changes, an increasing amount of the gas is absorbed by the

Since the beginning industrial revolution the ocean has suffered, and with that the ocean plants and animals have suffered as well. Ocean acidification has been the main cause of all these marine life problems. Anthropogenic activities alone have increased atmospheric CO2 by a third. Humans are doing things such as deforestation, land use changes, and the burning of fossil fuels for energy. The burning of fossil fuels accounts for 37% of the U.S. CO2 emissions. If just in the United States we are producing that much CO2, just imagine how much CO2 we are producing world wide from burning fossil fuels. Carbon Dioxide is not just affecting the atmosphere it is affecting the oceans and the creatures living in the oceans. Since the industrial revolution

The ‘leak’ in the biological pump in the Southern Ocean can be influenced by a variety of processes, changing the Southern Ocean’s influence on the concentration of atmospheric CO2, and global climate over glacial-interglacial timescales (Sigman et al. 2010). Reduced ventilation in the Antarctic, as a result of decreased Antarctic Bottom Water formation, decreases the amount of CO2 released to the atmosphere and increases the storage of CO2 in the deep ocean (Sigman et al. 2010, Hayes et al. 2014, Galaasen et al. 2014). Increased sea ice coverage would have also limited the release of CO2 to the atmosphere during glacial periods (Sigman et al. 2010). Greater nutrient utilization due to increased supply of Fe either by upwelling or dust input would lead to greater rates of CO2 sequestration in the deep ocean (Sigman et al. 2010). Increased productivity in the Subantarctic Zone during glacial periods, coupled with reduced Antarctic overturning would have also increased the amount of carbon in

Ocean acidification and temperature change has recently become a growing concern due to increased levels of anthropogenic CO2. Polar regions maintain a high affinity for the dissolution of atmospheric CO2 into the water due to the cold temperatures. This combined with upwelling of CO2 rich waters provides an environment that is vulnerable to increased ocean acidification as well as warming water temperatures. It is estimated that the annual pCO2 increase of the Southern Ocean has been 2.13±0.64 µatm per year, which is the most rapid ocean acidification in the world (Dawson et al., 2011). The rate of warming in this ocean has been observed at double the rate of global warming and it is predicted that the temperature will increase

Deforestation and the burning of fossil fuels have led to a great increase in anthropogenic carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere. Since the Industrial Revolution, the concentration of atmospheric CO2 has increased from about 280 parts per million to above 390 parts per million; and recently has been calculated to be rising 1.5-2 parts per million per year (Kudela, 2013). This sharp increase in atmospheric CO2 has had an impact on the ocean, and can be seen by the increase in the levels of gaseous CO2 in the seawater.

Between present day and the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, the concentration of CO2 dissolved in our oceans has risen by more than 30% (1). This is because nature wants to exist in equilibrium (2), so our oceans are absorbing CO2 until the concentration of the molecule is the same or similar to that of the air around it. Since the amount of carbon dioxide in the air is increasing, the amount absorbed into the sea is increasing as well. Experts say that if the levels of CO2 continue to increase at a similar rate, the end of the century will sea the ocean 150% more acidic than pre-Industrial Revolution (2,7). These rates have not been seen in more than 20 million years (2,7).

Increasing levels of carbon dioxide (CO2) have created problematic oceanic conditions that are detrimental towards the livelihood of coral reefs and other marine biota. The high levels of CO2 lead to a decline of ocean pH among other issues such as dramatic changes in oceanic make-up and chemistry. Statistics and data collected has shown that ocean acidification will not only increase but accelerate over the next century. The ocean takes in about 1/3 of anthropogenic carbon added to the atmosphere. Anthropogenic carbon refers to the excess CO2 added to the ocean and atmosphere from human fossil fuel combustion, agriculture, and deforestation. Although much of the damage from human fossil fuel combustion is irreversible, if emissions are decreased dramatically ocean acidification may be constrained.