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Name: Professor: Subject: Date: Anthropogenic Carbon and ocean pH The article discusses the issues concerning the lowering of the pH of the ocean and thus making them more acidic. This is mostly due to human activities like the burning of fossil that is eventually absorbed by the oceans. As known, the ocean is the primary absorber of carbon dioxide and thus eliminates the high amount of carbon dioxide that is present in the atmosphere of the earth. It is therefore very critical to the survival of living things. In this manner, the lowering of the pH of the ocean, affects this aquatic life, in one way or another. This article is therefore related to oceanography as it deals with the physical properties, i.e., acidity and biological properties that are living organisms. According to Caldeira et al. (365), most of the carbon dioxide that is produced through the burning of fossil fuel is eventually absorbed by the oceans. When carbon dioxide is absorbed, it dissolves in water and thus lowers the pH; making it more acidic. Although little is known about the effects of acidity on aquatic life, it is apparent that calcareous plankton, coral reefs and several organisms that have calcium carbonate as their shell or skeleton, will be affected. This is attributed to the fact that there is a greater possibility for the acid to corrode them. Moreover, the organisms that live closer to the surface of the oceans will be more affected, due to the most significant occurrence of the change in pH, and Deepwater life would also be more sensitive to the change in pH changes. To investigate the effects of CO2 emission, the researchers forced the Lawrence Livermore National
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