Speaker: Francois Morel, Department of Geosciences, Princeton University
The dissolution of anthropogenic CO2 increases the dissolved CO2 concentration of surface seawater, decreases its pH, and decreases the saturation of calcium carbonate. All three processes, described collectively under the the expression “ocean acidification,” have important potential effects on the ocean biota: 1) inorganic carbon may become more available for photosynthesis; essential algal nutrients may become more or less available to phytoplankton at lower pH; and calcifying organisms such as corals and coccolithophores should have more difficulty precipitating their hard skeletons. These net direct effects of ocean acidification on the marine biota will be superimposed on indirect effects of global change such as increases in temperature and changes in ocean circulation.
Speaker: Francois Morel, Department of Geosciences, Princeton University
The dissolution of anthropogenic CO2 increases the dissolved CO2 concentration of surface seawater, decreases its pH, and decreases the saturation of calcium carbonate. All three processes, described collectively under the the expression “ocean acidification,” have important potential effects on the ocean biota: 1) inorganic carbon may become more available for photosynthesis; essential algal nutrients may become more or less available to phytoplankton at lower pH; and calcifying organisms such as corals and coccolithophores should have more difficulty precipitating their hard skeletons. These net direct effects of ocean acidification on the marine biota will be superimposed on indirect effects of global change such as increases in temperature and changes in ocean circulation.
