earth science

Ocean acidification in the Arctic Ocean

Ocean acidification in the Arctic Ocean is a earth science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Ocean acidification in the Arctic Ocean rather than just read about it. In short: The Arctic Ocean covers an area of 14,056,000 square kilometers, and supports a diverse and important socioeconomic food web of organisms, despite its average water temperature being 32 degrees Fahrenheit. Over the last three decades, the Arctic Ocean has experienced drastic changes due to climate change.

Key takeaways

Ocean acidification in the Arctic Ocean belongs to earth science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Ocean acidification in the Arctic Ocean to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Ocean acidification in the Arctic Ocean from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

The Arctic Ocean covers an area of 14,056,000 square kilometers, and supports a diverse and important socioeconomic food web of organisms, despite its average water temperature being 32 degrees Fahrenheit. Over the last three decades, the Arctic Ocean has experienced drastic changes due to climate change. One of the changes is in the acidity levels of the ocean, which have been consistently increasing at twice the rate of the Pacific and Atlantic oceans. Arctic Ocean acidification is a result of feedback from climate system mechanisms, and is having negative impacts on Arctic Ocean ecosystems and the organisms that live within them.

Process Ocean acidification is caused by the equilibration of the atmosphere with the ocean, a process that occurs worldwide. Carbon dioxide in the atmosphere equilibrates and dissolves into the ocean. During this reaction, carbon dioxide reacts with water to form carbonic acid. The carbonic acid then dissociates into bicarbonate ions and hydrogen ions. This reaction causes the pH of the water to lower, effectively acidifying it. Ocean acidification is occurring in every ocean across the world. Since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, the World's oceans have absorbed approximately 525 billion tons of carbon dioxide. During this time, world ocean pH has collectively decreased from 8.2 to 8.1, with climatic modeling predicting a further decrease of pH by 0.3 units by 2100. However, the Arctic Ocean has been affected more due to the cold water temperatures and increased solubility of gases as water temperature decreases. The cold Arctic water is able to absorb higher amounts of carbon dioxide compared to the warmer Pacific and Atlantic Oceans. The chemical changes caused by the acidification of the Arctic Ocean are having negative ecological and socioeconomic repercussions. With the changes in the chemistry of their environment, arctic organisms are challenged with new stressors. These stressors can have damaging effects on these organisms, with some being affected more than others. Calcifying organisms specifically appear to be the most impacted by this changing water composition, as they rely on carbonate availability to survive. Dissolved carbonate concentrations decrease with increasing carbon dioxide and lowered pH in the water. Ecological food webs are also altered by the acidification. Acidification lowers the ability of many fish to grow, which not only impacts food webs but humans that rely on these fisheries as well. Economic effects are resulting from shifting food webs that decrease popular fish populations. These fish populations provide jobs to people who work in the fisheries industry. As is apparent, ocean acidification lacks any positive benefits, and as a result has been placed high on a priority list within the United States and other organizations such as the Scientific Committee on Oceanic Research, UNESCO's Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission, the Ocean Carbon and Biogeochemistry Program, the Integrated Marine Biogeochemistry and Ecosystem Research Project, and the Consortium for Ocean Leadership.

Causes

Decreased sea ice Arctic sea ice has experienced an extreme reduction over the past few decades, with the minimum area of sea ice being 4.32 million km2 in 2019, a sharp 38% decrease from 1980, when the minimum area was 7.01 million km2. Sea ice plays an important role in the health of the Arctic Ocean, and its decline has had detrimental effects on Arctic Ocean chemistry. All oceans equilibrate with the atmosphere by pulling carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere and into the ocean, which lowers the pH of the water. Sea ice limits the air-sea gas exchange with carbon dioxide by protecting the water from being completely exposed to the atmosphere. Low carbon dioxide levels are important to the Arctic Ocean due to intense cooling, fresh water runoff, and photosynthesis from marine organisms. Reductions in sea ice have allowed more carbon dioxide to equilibrate with the arctic water, resulting in increased acidification. The decrease in sea ice has also allowed more Pacific Ocean water to flow into in the Arctic Ocean during the winter, called Pacific winter water. Pacific Ocean water is high in carbon dioxide, and with decreased amounts of sea ice, more Pacific Ocean water has been able to enter the Arctic Ocean, carrying carbon dioxide with it. This Pacific winter water has further acidified the Arctic Ocean, as well as increased the depth of acidified water.

Melting methane hydrates Climate change is causing destabilization of multiple climate systems within the Arctic Ocean. One system that climate change is impacting is methane hydrates. Methane hydrates are located along the continental margins, and are stabilized by high pressure, as well as uniformly low temperatures. Climate change has begun to destabilize these methane hydrates within the Arctic Ocean by decreasing pressure and increasing temperatures, allowing methane hydrates to melt and release methane into the arctic waters. When methane is released into the water, it can either be used via anaerobic metabolism or aerobic metabolism by microorganisms in the ocean sediment, or be released from sea into the atmosphere. Most impactful to ocean acidification is aerobic oxidation by microorganisms in the water column. Carbon dioxide is produced by the reaction of methane and oxygen in water. Carbon dioxide then equilibrates with water, producing carbonic acid, which then equilibrates to release hydrogen ions and bicarbonate and further contributes to ocean acidification.

Effects on Arctic organisms Organisms in Arctic waters are under high environmental stress such as extremely cold water. It is believed that this high stress environment will cause ocean acidification factors to have a stronger effect on these organisms. It could also cause these effects to appear in the Arctic before it appears in other parts of the ocean. There is a significant variation in the sensitivity of marine organisms to increased ocean acidification. Calcifying organisms generally exhibit larger negative responses from ocean acidification than non-calcifying organisms across numerous response variables, with the exception of crustaceans, which calcify but don't seem to be negatively affected. This is due, mainly, to the process of marine biogenic calcification, that calcifying organisms utilize.

… excerpt ends here. Continue reading the full article.

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Ocean acidification in the Arctic Ocean

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Ocean acidification in the Arctic Ocean claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In earth science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Ocean acidification in the Arctic Ocean before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Ocean acidification in the Arctic Ocean ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Ocean acidification in the Arctic Ocean

In research: Ocean acidification in the Arctic Ocean appears in earth science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Ocean acidification in the Arctic Ocean in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Ocean acidification in the Arctic Ocean is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Aquatic ecology, Arctic Ocean, Biological oceanography, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Ocean acidification in the Arctic Ocean outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Ocean acidification in the Arctic Ocean in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Ocean acidification in the Arctic Ocean means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Ocean acidification in the Arctic Ocean out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Ocean acidification in the Arctic Ocean in simple terms?

Why does Ocean acidification in the Arctic Ocean matter?

Because it connects several earth science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Ocean acidification in the Arctic Ocean?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Ocean acidification in the Arctic Ocean.