Rising Atmospheric CO2 and Ocean Acidification

April 11, 3:00pm - 4:15pm
Mānoa Campus, MSB 100

*Celebrating 50 years of Oceanography at UH*

Christopher Sabine
NOAA Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory
Seattle, WA USA

"Rising Atmospheric CO2 and Ocean Acidification"

Abstract: Currently the average concentration of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) is >390 parts per million (ppm); a 39% increase over preindustrial levels. Nearly half of that increase has occurred in the time since I was a graduate student at UH.

By mid-century, the average atmospheric CO2 concentration could easily reach double the preindustrial concentration of 280 ppm. At the time I got my PhD from the Department of Oceanography there were still very large unknowns about the global carbon cycle, including the “missing CO2 sink”. We now know that the ocean has absorbed 155 billion metric tonnes of carbon from the atmosphere over the last two centuries; providing a much stronger constraint on the global carbon cycle. The missing CO2 problem has been solved. We also know that the CO2 absorbed by the ocean reacts with the water molecules to form carbonic acid resulting in what is commonly referred to as ocean acidification. A range of field and laboratory studies suggest that impacts of acidification on some major marine calcifiers may already be detectable and will likely increase in the future. A long list of other impacts on the marine environment has also been investigated. However, there are still large uncertainties in the future ocean carbon uptake and storage of anthropogenic CO2 as well as the future impacts of ocean acidification.

Both the changing ocean carbon system and potential changes in marine ecosystems suggest that the oceans are undergoing significant changes due to rising CO2 that will affect every nation on Earth. Additional research on carbon cycling and ocean acidification is needed.


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Free

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Oceanography, Mānoa Campus

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