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ensure accuracy. Climate Stabilization Targets: Emissions,
Concentrations, and Impacts over Decades to Millennia 4.9 OCEAN
ACIDIFICATION The oceanic uptake of excess atmospheric carbon
dioxide alters the chemistry of seawater, which may impact a
wide range of marine organisms from plankton to coral reefs
(Doney et al., 2009a,b; NRC, 2010) (see also Section 6.3). Ocean
acidification is in fact a series of interlinked and wellknown
changes in acid-base chemistry and carbonate chemistry due to
the net flux of CO2 into surface waters (Figure 4.26). The
chemical shifts include increases in the partial pressure of
carbon dioxide (pCO2), the concentration of aqueous CO2, and the
hydrogen ion (H+) concentration and decreases in pH (pH =
–log10[H+]). The increase in hydrogen ion concentration acts to
lower the concentration of carbonate i