Acidic ocean problem?

Question

for my project, i decided to make it about the acidic oceans and seas/acidified seawater. what i need to do for my project is make an idea of how im going to help it. so can you guys give me some ideas of what to do to prevetn the sea from absorbing carbon dioxide emisions?

plz and thank u!

Answer 1

I dunno...throw in some Tums maybe?

Answer 2

The only thing we can do to prevent the acidification of oceans is to stop adding so much CO2 to the atmosphere and/or find a way to remove large amounts of it.  Basically if we're able to successfully address global warming, it will also address ocean acidification.

Answer 3

To prevent the sea from absorbing carbon dioxide emissons, you must dramatically reduce the carbon dioxide emissions into the air. Not only does that help reduce global warming, but it also helps solve the ocean acidification problem.

Here are some other ideas:

1.) Seed the ocean with iron to promote phytoplankton blooms that would soak up carbon dioxide. But messing with the oceanic food chain could have drastic effects on the ocean ecology.

2.) Neutralize the seas, possibly with limestone. But the large scale mining and transportation of these minerals would add more carbon dioxide to the air, and reqire a lot of money and energy.

3.) Harvest hydrocloric acid from the ocean using electrochemical treatment, then expose it to silicates, resulting in a net alkalizing shift.

But these are only measures of last resort. None of the three strategies have been tested over the long term. In the end, the best solution is to fight both global warming and acidic oceans at the same time by reducing carbon emissions. Simple things like conserving electricity and driving less can help reduce your carbon footprint.  

Answer 4

As the CO2 concentration in the air rises, a portion of the CO2 in the air diffuses into the water, making carbonic acid.  The ocean is much to large to treat like some of the lakes and streams were treated in the Adirondack Mountains years ago to reduce acidity.  The only real way to do it is to reduce the emissions in the air, and a reduction in the amount of CO2 absorb by the ocean will follow after a while.

Answer 5

Oh dear the pseudo scientists are out in force on this one with comments like "Salt water will not contain CO2" or "Take a carbonated drink and put in a tea spoon of salt. The carbonation will come out very quickly"

For a start the ocean is nothing like the co2 level of of a can of soda, it would be nice if people had the first inkling of what they were talking about as many of the answers here just sound like they are made up and have no clue about chemistry. Interesting that one of the main linch pins of the denier argument is natural co2 sources are much bigger than mans, when you make that statement you are talking about land based plant life and "THE OCEANS" this link puts the figure at around 330Gt

http://environment.newscientist.com/chan...

and this explains the process in layman's terms

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_diox...

Answer 6

Why would CO2 increase the acidity of seawater?

Answer 7

Get lots of baking soda and throw it in the ocean. Who has decided that the ph of the ocean is a problem anyway?

We CAN'T effect the ocean to that degree because it's too big and we're too small.

You on your own couldn't do anything to have any meaningful effect on the ocean.

Answer 8

where do you think our O2 comes from on earth?  Algae!  70% to 80% of all the O2 comes from marine plants.  So the more CO2 the oceans absorb, the quicker the CO2 is converted to O2.

The salt and minerals that are dissolved in the oceans also buffer the pH and so the acidity won't change.

Answer 9

Sorry but mother nature has already solved the problem. Every thing is acid or base and when mixed into a balanced solution of salt.Example;

HCL a very bad acid.

Caustic soda bad base can cause serious burns. Mix together to a ph 7 and what do U have ?/ It is simple table salt and water. In nature the ground is basic . The roting plant material is acid and that is why the oceans are salty. Salt water will not contain CO2 . Take a carbonated drink and put in a tea spoon of salt. The carbonation will come out very quickly.