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Acidification (the state of something becoming acidic) occurs when the pH drops below 7.0 and thus the ratio of hydrogen ions to hydroxyl ions > 1. This has nev
by vixen99 14y ago
Acidification (the state of something becoming acidic) occurs when the pH drops below 7.0 and thus the ratio of hydrogen ions to hydroxyl ions > 1. This has never occurred and we are nowhere near that situation. pH (it's a log scale) of the oceans is roughly around 7.7 to 8.4. This is not to debate future trends!
- japhyr 14y agoSo what do you call a downward trend in pH, when the pH starts above 7? And if there is a downward trend, what makes you think it would stop on its own at 7?
- DennisP 14y agoSeven is not the magic number where things go bad. The pH is dropping about a hundred times faster than at any time in the past 20 million years, and that's already affecting sea life. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ocean_acidification http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ocean_acidification "Corals, calcareous phytoplankton, mussels, snails, sea urchins and other marine organisms use calcium (Ca) and carbonate (CO3) in seawater to construct their calcium carbonate (CaCO3) shells or skeletons. As the pH decreases, carbonate becomes less available, which makes it more difficult for organisms to secrete CaCO3 to form their skeletal material." http://www.ocean-acidification.net/FAQeco.html http://www.ocean-acidification.net/FAQeco.html