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Image: Effect of Ocean Acidification on Calcification

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Description: CO2 dissolves in seawater to form carbonic acid (H2CO3), which can be broken down into hydrogen and carbonate ions. More CO2 means more hydrogen ions, which decreases carbonate ion levels because some of the additional hydrogen ions combine with carbonate ions (CO32-) to form bicarbonate (HCO3-). This means there is less carbonate available for calcifying organisms to build their shells with, resulting in their shells beginning to dissolve. While not all species of marine calcifying organisms will experience negative effects, species like pteropods will experience possibly devastating effects to their populations.
Author: Elizajans
Usage Terms: Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0
License: CC-BY-SA-3.0
License Link: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
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