Acidification in the Arctic Ocean

• A consequence of the persistent release of carbon dioxide (CO2) to the atmosphere following fossil fuel combustion and changes in land use is that there is an increasing net air-to-sea transport of CO2. Although this oceanic uptake will reduce the potential for greenhouse warming that would have arisen had the gas remained in the atmosphere, it will also result in major changes in ocean chemistry. The most obvious signal in this respect is the fall in ocean pH and the change in the speciation of the marine carbonate system. The Arctic Ocean is one of the regions where ocean acidification is occurring fastest. From a baseline where the seawater is already poorly buffered and thus small changes in CO2 content have large changes in pH, there are a multitude of stressors that act on the Arctic Ocean amplifying the acidification. This chapter summarizes carbonate chemistry in seawater (Section 2.2) and reviews the major processes influencing the Arctic Ocean carbonate system (Section 2.3). The chapter also describes some of the biogeochemical processes sensitive to ocean acidification (Section 2.4). Section 2.5 addresses the major sources and sinks of carbon to the Arctic Ocean, and presents a regional breakdown of contemporary rates of ocean acidification. Finally, simulations from earth system models and regional models are analyzed to project potential changes to the Arctic Ocean carbonate system (Section 2.6).

Ämnesord

NATURVETENSKAP  -- Geovetenskap och miljövetenskap (hsv//swe)

NATURAL SCIENCES  -- Earth and Related Environmental Sciences (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

Arctic Ocean

Ocean Acidification

Publikations- och innehållstyp

ref (ämneskategori)

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