[Stoves] more on ocean acidification

Thu Aug 8 05:56:44 CDT 2013

*Since the beginning of the industrial era, humans have pumped increasing
amounts of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. This has led not only to a
warmer climate but also to significant changes in the chemistry of the
oceans, which have long acted as a sink for carbon emissions but are being
asked to absorb more than they can handle. The result is ocean
acidification: increasingly corrosive seawater that has already ruined many
coral reefs and over time could threaten the entire marine food chain.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/03/opinion/marine-life-on-a-warming-planet.html
*

On Thu, Aug 8, 2013 at 5:08 PM, Paul Olivier <paul.olivier at esrla.com> wrote:

> 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/
>

-- 
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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