ofCO2fromtheatmosphere.PDFVIP

51 The oceans of the world naturally exchange large amounts of carbon dioxide with the atmosphere. Where oceans are warm, they outgas CO2 into the atmosphere; where they are cold they take up CO2 from the atmosphere. The global ocean is also a major sink for man-made carbon dioxide, currently responsible for absorbing about a quarter of it. The increase in concentration of CO2 in surface waters produced by the absorption of man-made CO2 will reduce the chemical uptake of CO2 from the atmosphere; a reduction in this sink will tend to leave more CO2 in the atmosphere and act to speed up warming (although changes in biological processes, which also control the strength of the ocean sink for CO2, may offset these chemical changes). Increase in ocean surface temperatures due to human activity will also result in less uptake of CO2 from the atmosphere. Basic chemistry tells us that when atmospheric CO2 is absorbed it acidifies the ocean water. The Hadley Centre coupled climate-carbon cycle model has been used to predict how the surface pH of the ocean will change over the period 1860–2100, and the result is shown in this slide. The red line represents the global average surface ocean pH, and the blue lines either side show the spread of pH at any given time from different oceans of the world and different seasons. The reduction in pH of about 0.1 unit since pre-industrial times simulated by the model is roughly in line with measurements. The model predicts a further reduction of about 0.25 by the end of the century. The Royal Society reported in June 2005 on the effects of ocean acidification. Its report can be found at www.royalsoc.ac.uk/document.asp?id=3249 Increasing ocean acidity will act to decrease CO2 uptake, in addition to decreased uptake resulting from increased surface CO2 concentration and temperature. There is convincing evidence to suggest that acidification will affect calcification, the process by which animals such as corals make shells from calcium carbo