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There is only one goddess Gaia and Al Gore is her only prophet... - eppie - 01-04-2010
Quote:Are you concerned about the CO2/H2CO3 equilibrium? It only takes a few seconds for carbonic acid to turn back into CO2, you know. Nothing to worry about. The notation will be clearer if you replace the single arrows by an equal sign. The human body uses this equilibrium to buffer changes in blood acidity, btw. If too much acid is formed, it will be absorbed by the creation of CO2 and H2O. If things get too 'caustic', the opposite will happen.
The acidification of the seas because of the enormous quantities of extra CO2 that dissolves in them (because of burning fuels that have been formed in millions of years in one century) is a huge problem.....maybe bigger than just rise in temperature......who knows.
Too much acid in the sea is not countered by CO2 release....it reacts with the CaCO3 of shells, corals etc.
Only positive thing is that regarding the oceans we don't even know 90% of the life that will be extinct because of this.
There is only one goddess Gaia and Al Gore is her only prophet... - Zenda - 01-04-2010
I agree that the acidification of oceans is a huge problem, but I wanted to explain there is nothing to be concerned about understanding the CO2/H2CO3 equilibrium. It's pretty straightforward and well predictable (Ocean acidification due to increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide). What we don't fully know is how it will affect ecologic systems, but that goes for all pollutants.
Quote:it reacts with the CaCO3 of shells, corals etc.Not directly. The only reason that the CaCO3 from corals and such doesn't dissolve is because sea water is already saturated with it. Bringing more CO2 into the water will bind some of the dissolved CaCO3, which causes the concentration to drop. That will make corals dissolve. Apart from this, there are certainly more dangers for coral (temperature, sea level, etc), but that's because it's such a highly specialized and balanced ecological system, which makes it vulnerable to changing circumstances.