[Stoves] more on ocean acidification

Thu Aug 8 05:08:10 CDT 2013

Crispin,

The term that the scientific community uses is "ocean acidification," and
this is a very real environmental problem that most people in the
scientific community do not deny.

Many thanks.
Paul Olivier

On Thu, Aug 8, 2013 at 12:27 PM, Crispin Pemberton-Pigott <
crispinpigott at gmail.com> wrote:

> Dear Friends****
>
> ** **
>
> I have been catching up on less important correspondence after being in
> Asia for a while. There is one thing that still needs to be put down like a
> broken-legged horse and that of course is the idea that CO2 ‘acidifies’
> the ocean.****
>
> ** **
>
> Because this is a high school chemistry level topic and I know some of us
> took other things – or as the drummer in my brothers class said, “I don’t
> remember Chemistry, I was stoned that year.”****
>
> ** **
>
> So for those of you who were also stoned that year or can’t remember back
> that far, here is a simple review of pH with special reference to the
> oceans, CO2 and the false, badly mis-named idea that CO2 ‘increases the
> acidity of the oceans’.****
>
> ** **
>
> The term pH refers to one of three distinct chemical conditions which bear
> no relationship to each other. One is called acidity, another is called
> alkalinity and third is ‘neutral’. Acidity and alkalinity are so different
> that if equal in ‘strength’ they cancel each other completely leaving a
> neutral condition. Different pH numbers refer to different conditions.****
>
> ** **
>
> Acid solutions (it has to be a solution with water in it) have a chemistry
> that has Hydrogen atoms stripped of their single electron. They are thus
> positively changed and seeking an electron. This they will happily strip
> out of anything passing by if they can find it, tearing the molecules to
> bits in the process which is why acids ‘eat’ things.****
>
> ** **
>
> Alkaline solutions (again, involving water) have molecules that have an
> extra electron available (but not Hydrogen) and are thus negatively
> charged. They will give away an electron happily, often wrecking the object
> that receives it which is why they eat things too but by a completely
> different process.****
>
> ** **
>
> Both acidic and alkaline solutions can corrode things like metals and
> rocks. One takes electrons and one gives them. Quote opposite. The two
> conditions are so incompatible they cannot be present at the same time in a
> mixed solution. It is one, the other or ‘neutral’ if neither condition is
> present.****
>
> ** **
>
> If you have an alkaline solution like the ocean (pH 7.8 - 8.4 depending on
> where you are, the time of day and a host of other things) and you want to
> neutralise it so that all its spare electrons are taken up by various
> things, you would have to add something acidic. Adding CO2 by bubbling it
> through the seawater will convert some of the CO2 (about 1%) to carbonic
> acid which has a deficiency of electrons and that acid will merge with
> whichever passing opportunity presents itself. The corresponding alkaline
> molecule will be neutralised as its spare electron will be passed to the
> carbonic acid molecule (which has an H- in it) and afterwards neither
> will have any charge. Both will be neutralised if the charges are balanced.
> ****
>
> ** **
>
> Because this happens very quickly, you cannot actually find any carbonic
> acid in the ocean. Nor any other acid. The oceans are not acidic at all.
> Any ocean has quite a store of available electrons. Anything acidic you
> dump into the sea is quickly neutralised and the pH drops slightly because
> it is closer to a neutral condition. The oceanic capacity to hand over
> electrons to any passing electron gap is very, very large. There are
> several processes that would begin to offer electrons but do not because
> the ocean is too alkaline to allow them to get started. The ability to do
> this is called the ‘buffering’ capacity. You may remember ‘Bufferin’ the
> pill that neutralises stomach acid. The pill is alkaline and has a large
> buffering capacity so it can hand a lot of electrons over to the acid in
> the stomach, thus neutralising it. If you took a whole bottle of Bufferin
> pills, your stomach would not become less and less and less acidic. It
> would be neutralised and then become alkaline and remains so until the
> spare electrons were taken up in a neutralising process. People are, in
> general, alkaline and should eat alkaline foods to remain healthy. Excess
> acid is a problem.****
>
> ** **
>
> By the same measure, reducing the availability of spare electrons in the
> ocean water does not *at all* make the water acidic because it still has
> many more available electrons. It is less alkaline, but it is not acidic at
> all – zero in the ‘acidic scale’ (there isn’t one). ****
>
> ** **
>
> In order to make a convenient metric for describing these two conditions
> (which can cancel each other out very predictably) the pH scale is used.
> Above 7.0 the solution has available electrons and is termed alkaline.
> Below 7.0 is has a deficiency of electrons and is called ‘acidic’. The
> reason for the use of two different terms is they are chemically dissimilar
> and cannot coexist.****
>
> ** **
>
> Acidity of a solution is often represented by the Hydrogen equivalent [H+]
> T which is the total number of Hydrogen electrons that would be needed to
> neutralise it.****
>
> ** **
>
> Alkalinity is often expressed in terms of its equivalence to Calcium
> Carbonate CACO3 in mg/Litre.****
>
> ** **
>
> Q.           Can CO2 ‘acidify’ water? ****
>
> A.            Yes, if the water is neutral to begin with, or already
> acidic, like rain water. Because rain water is acidic, when it falls into
> the ocean it neutralises the drops of seawater where it touches, before
> becoming diluted again by the surrounding ocean. Rainwater does not impart
> to the ocean any microscopic ability to withdraw electrons. It is quickly
> neutralised by some seawater. When it is finished a few seconds later, the
> acid has been destroyed.****
>
> ** **
>
> Q.           If one bubbled CO2 through sea water, would it eventually
> become acidic?****
>
> A.            Yes. If you were to first neutralise all the available
> electrons by mopping them up, after that it would start to become acidic.
> It would not considered be acidic at all until the whole body of the sample
> had first been neutralised. These two conditions cannot co-exist.****
>
> ** **
>
> Q.           What about ‘acid rain’. ****
>
> A.            All rain is acidic. It is acidic because fresh water absorbs
> CO2 rapidly from the atmosphere, converting about 1% into carbonic acid.
> This falls into the oceans and reacts with the available alkaline
> molecules. It is easy to acidify rain. It is very difficult to neutralise
> the oceans because of the rocks upon which they sit which have a huge,
> massive buffering capacity. There are numerous life cycles of creatures
> that withdraw CO2, CO3-2 and HCO3- when it is available. Obviously CACO3is high on the list for uptake by creatures that make shells.
> ****
>
> ** **
>
> Q.           Which has a larger impact on ocean alkalinity: atmospheric CO
> 2 or rain containing CO2?****
>
> A.            Not clear. Rain has a big effect because oceans actually
> have difficulty picking up enough CO2 to drive the level much above 600
> ppm because of the limited surface area compared with the volume and the
> huge buffering capacity.  Rain is much higher - about 1120 ppm CO2.
> Global rainfall totals about half a million cubic kilometers per year and
> contains about 600 billion tons of CO2 which is about 20 times human<http://www.global-greenhouse-warming.com/anthropogenic-climate-change.html>output.
> ****
>
> ** **
>
> Q.           What is the mass of the oceans?****
>
> A.            1.332 billion billion tons.****
>
> ** **
>
> Q.           Do reputable scientific organisations refer to ‘acidifying’
> the oceans even though that is not, chemically, what it happening?****
>
> A.            Yes. NASA does<http://www.earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Features/OceanCarbon/>.
> “As we burn fossil fuels and atmospheric carbon dioxide levels go up, the
> ocean absorbs more carbon dioxide to stay in balance. But this absorption
> has a price: these reactions lower the water’s pH, meaning it’s more
> acidic.”****
>
> ** **
>
> Q.           But it is less alkaline, not more acidic. Why do they write
> that when it is untrue, in fact it is unscientific?****
>
> A.            I don’t think anyone knows.  Perhaps they too missed
> Chemistry in high school.****
>
> ** **
>
> +++++++****
>
> Regards
> Crispin****
>
> ** **
>
> ** **
>
> ** **
>
> *Sent:* Friday, July 26, 2013 3:25 PM
> *Subject:* [Stoves] more on ocean acidification****
>
> ** **
>
>
> http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=noaa-scientists-embark-voyage-asses-ocean-acidification
>
> --
> Paul A. Olivier PhD
> 26/5 Phu Dong Thien Vuong
> Dalat
> Vietnam
>
>
> ****
>
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-- 
Paul A. Olivier PhD
26/5 Phu Dong Thien Vuong
Dalat
Vietnam

Louisiana telephone: 1-337-447-4124 (rings Vietnam)
Mobile: 090-694-1573 (in Vietnam)
Skype address: Xpolivier
http://www.esrla.com/
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