One of the hardest tasks in lab work is recreating natural environments. As research in ocean acidification continues to grow, labs will need to create acidic ocean water in order to study any effects it will have. In nature, CO2 combines with H2O molecules, releasing free hydrogen ions, increasing acidity. In the past hydrochloric acid was added to ocean water to increase acidity. Today using CO2 is the preferred method. However, this can be a hard process to measure and sustain.
A system has been created that will allow ocean water to be acidified, and then used during experiments in environmental chambers.
This system pumps CO2 amended air into a water reservoir allowing the acidification process to happen. The system allows a chosen concentration of CO2to be equilibrated in the water. The water can easily be bottled and then placed in an environmental chamber that has the same amended air flowing through it. This chamber can be used in an incubator to assess synergistic effects of temperature and increased CO2 on various organisms. The reservoir can also be incubated during equilibration. An infrared CO2 Analyzer records concentrations of CO2, in the amended air initially, in the equilibration reservoir and in the environmental chamber. A switchboard allows analysis of four different reservoirs and four different chambers, which can all be incubated to compare results between chambers. This system better mimics the natural environment so that the acidified water can be used in further research.
The global impact of ocean acidification is beyond measure or prediction. It is likely to have effects on many organisms and the ecosystems they live in. The ocean food web may be affected as plankton react to the acidification. World fishing industries could be adversely affected as ecosystems change. Global food supply could decrease, creating famine and disease in many places.
Ocean acidification is a well-known process in which dissolved CO2 reacts with water to create carbonic acid, and eventually carbonate and bicarbonate, releasing free hydrogen ions. The rise in atmospheric CO2 concentration correlates with the consumption of fossil fuels, increased industrial emissions and deforestation. CO2 is a greenhouse gas that causes radiation from the sun to be trapped in the atmosphere. Most scientists agree that this will have a negative impact on the planet’s ecosystems.
To study the effects of acidification on the planet, creating CO2 -acidified water is necessary to carry out experiments. Until now, an easy-to-use system that creates enriched water has not been developed. Research and instrument development will allow future experimentation.
For research to be credible, it needs to be repeatable. The biggest problem with acidification research is having a reliable equilibration system. In the past, HCl was added to ocean water to lower pH. These experiments did not recreate the natural environment and the chemical reactions that occur in nature. By creating a reliable and repeatable system, acidification research will be more realistic.
We thank the Shannon Point Marine Center for allowing us to use their research lab. We would like to thank Dr. Suzanne Strom and Dr. Brady Olsen for their insight concerning plankton. Funding for this project was provided by the National Science Foundation grant #OCE-0741372