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oups.com...
Jeff Rigby wrote:

Oceans have already absorbed a third of the world's emissions of carbon
dioxide, one of the heat-trapping gases blamed for global warming,
leading to acidification that prevents vital sea life from forming
properly.

** Vital sea life? plants that like carbon dioxide?? Which vital sea
life??

So we should expect burning lungs for those who breathe out carbon
dioxide.
How in the world does anyone believe this bunk. Your breath has twice as
much carbon dioxide as there is in the atmosphere/many times the amount
that
is dissolved in the ocean. While there is a slight tendency for the
carbon
dioxide molecule to attract an oxygen atom in water thus freeing up the
hydrogen atom to make an acid it's EXTREMELY weak.

Not that weak. If you take a distilled water and left it open pH goes
down from 7 to about 5.7 - just because of the presence of dissolved
carbon dioxide.

PH changes from 7, in other words from 5-9 in distilled water take very
little acid or base, in other words it's a very weak acid or base.

So far changes in the carbon dioxide levels are below the level that
may have any direct meaning for our health. Blood acts as a buffer - it
contains carbonic acid in equilibrium with bicarbonate and it is in
equilibrium with the carbon dioxide level present in the lungs, much
higher than in the surrounding air. As the blood flows continuously
through the lungs it keeps their pH at almost constant level. But if
the level of carbon dioxide in your lungs increases your urge to breath
is based on the fact that increasing amount of carbon dioxide (and
carbonic acid) lowers your blood pH.

http://www.ph-meter.info/pH-scale

Note that observed differences in blood pH are about 0.1 pH unit - 0.03
pH change will already make you pant.

Borek
--
http://www.chembuddy.com
http://www.ph-meter.info


Thank you for that explanation. Some further information; In natural water
(with calcium and organic growths) acid changes are primarily due to organic
matter being eaten by certain types of bacteria. The buffering effect of
calcium in water or blood tends to buffer or balance the SLOW absorption of
carbon dioxide. In other words the systems in sea water like the blood act
as buffers to prevent fast change in acid levels unless it's due to the
faster activities of bacteria on organic waste.

With the higher output of the sun till 2004 and higher carbon dioxide I'd
expect much more plant growth. In most phytoplankton, it's life cycle is
short, it dies and becomes fodder for bacteria. Bacteria create co2 and
acids when they eat the dead phytoplankton.