Biophysical Science - Ocean Acidification Peter G. Brewer

By: Material type: TextTextSeries: Bishop Museum Technical Report ; no. 42(2) | Climate Change and Biodiversity in Melanesia (CCBM) Paper ; 2Publication details: Honolulu, USA Bishop Museum 2008Description: i, 15 p. ill., graphs, maps 30 cmSubject(s): DDC classification:
  • 363.7394
Online resources: Summary: "The lowering of upper ocean pH from the now massive invasion of atmospheric fossil fuel produced CO2 is an uncontested reality, and is now generally referred to as the process of ocean acidification. We have already disposed of some 530 billion tons of fossil fuel CO2 by gas exchange with the atmosphere, and the invasion rate today is some 24 million tons per day. This massive removal of CO2 from the atmosphere is essential for our fossil fuel based economy, and without ocean CO2 uptake we would already have experienced large-scale climate change. The mean ventilation age of the deep waters of the world ocean (the mean time for re-exposure of the deep waters to the atmosphere) is about 575 years and thus we can count on ocean uptake of CO2 for some centuries to come. Eventually some 85% of all atmospheric CO2 emissions will reside in the ocean as air and sea reach equilibrium. This sets limits on allowable accumulated CO2 emissions if a goal of stabilizing CO2 levels is set. For example if the atmosphere is held stable at 550 ppmv CO2 (i.e. doubling of pre-industrial CO2 level by year 2100, which assumes very rapid carbon emission reduction; cf. IPCC emission scenario B1) for several centuries we will transfer 6.2 trillion tons of CO2 to the ocean. At that time equilibrium between air and sea will have been achieved, and zero fossil fuel CO2 emissions to the atmosphere would be allowed. The political acceptability of this ambitious target is unknown."
Item type: Technical Report
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Holdings
Current library Call number Status Date due Barcode
MAIN LIBRARY Noumea D 363.739 4 BRE 2008 Available 43259

Includes bibliographical references (p. 15)

"The lowering of upper ocean pH from the now massive invasion of atmospheric fossil fuel produced CO2 is an uncontested reality, and is now generally referred to as the process of ocean acidification. We have already disposed of some 530 billion tons of fossil fuel CO2 by gas exchange with the atmosphere, and the invasion rate today is some 24 million tons per day. This massive removal of CO2 from the atmosphere is essential for our fossil fuel based economy, and without ocean CO2 uptake we would already have experienced large-scale climate change. The mean ventilation age of the deep waters of the world ocean (the mean time for re-exposure of the deep waters to the atmosphere) is about 575 years and thus we can count on ocean uptake of CO2 for some centuries to come. Eventually some 85% of all atmospheric CO2 emissions will reside in the ocean as air and sea reach equilibrium. This sets limits on allowable accumulated CO2 emissions if a goal of stabilizing CO2 levels is set. For example if the atmosphere is held stable at 550 ppmv CO2 (i.e. doubling of pre-industrial CO2 level by year 2100, which assumes very rapid carbon emission reduction; cf. IPCC emission scenario B1) for several centuries we will transfer 6.2 trillion tons of CO2 to the ocean. At that time equilibrium between air and sea will have been achieved, and zero fossil fuel CO2 emissions to the atmosphere would be allowed. The political acceptability of this ambitious target is unknown."