All Entries Tagged With: "ocean acidification"
The Oceans and Global Warming
Likely the biggest threats that global warming will face humanity with are regional droughts and ocean acidification. I want to begin a discussion on the latter, by offering an introduction to the process of ocean acidification and its role in global warming.
Imagine that you’ve taken a drive across the farm in your pickup truck. A CO2 molecule is emitted from the truck. That molecule lingers on some oak tree leaves overnight. When the sun comes out the next morning, as part of the process of photosynthesis, that carbon dioxide molecule is absorbed by the tree. The molecule is now part of the carbon in the oak tree.
Later that night when it’s cold, that molecule is released back into the atmosphere as part of plant respiration. The molecule makes its way through the air to the surface of the ocean. It dissolves and reacts to all the salts in the ocean waters. Here a diatom phytoplankton ingests the CO2 making the molecule part of the ocean’s plant-life through the process of marine photosynthesis.
