July 5, 2005
British scientists at the Royal Society warn that increasing levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) spell disaster for the world's coral reefs. As CO2 increases in our atmosphere, it dissolves in sea water to produce an acidic solution. As acidity levels rise, the chemical balance of marine life is altered.
If you have ever kept an aquarium you'll know that the acidity of the water greatly influences the health of your tank and its inhabitants. As in a fish tank, higher acidity in the world's oceans poses a serious threat to the inhabiting marine species, including corals which are the backbone of reef systems and diversity.
Scientists estimate that without drastic reductions in CO2 emissions, the pH of sea water could drop from from 8.2 to around 7.7 (lower pH levels indicate increasing acidity). This would be the lowest pH level of sea water in 300 million years. Experts believe the reductions mapped out in the Kyoto Protocol are not sufficient to reverse this trend and that more drastic CO2 emission reduction measures are needed.
For those of you interested in the underlying chemistry of dissolved carbon dioxide, it involves an equilibrium between dissolved carbon dioxide, water, and carbonic acid and can be expressed in the following chemical equation:
CO2(aq) + H2O(l) <-> H+(aq) + HCO3-(aq)
