CO2 Acidification in Aquatic Ecosystems: An Integrative Approach to Risk Assessment

CO2 Acidification in Aquatic Ecosystems: An Integrative Approach to Risk Assessment focuses on the characterization of different aspects of ecosystem science to describe the situation of CO2 acidification in aquatic ecosystems. This extensive coverage looks at the effects of CO2 acidification throughout all oceans and coastal areas. In addition, the book describes integrative approaches based on global case studies to determine the effects associated with this kind of acidification. It allows the reader to understand the different sources of CO2 in the aquatic ecosystems and the different approaches and lines of evidence available to characterize the impact of this acidification.

This book provides researchers, professors and post graduate students in oceanography and aquatic ecology with a new and complete tool set to address and understand the potential impacts of CO2 acidification in aquatic ecosystems.

• Presents case studies and new data related to CO2 acidification in aquatic ecosystems
• Includes new approaches for understanding the behavior of organisms in aquatic ecosystems that are suffering stress from different sources of contamination at acidification conditions
• Provides an integrated approach to address the environmental quality in areas affected by acidification and contamination by other stressors

• Language: English
• Publisher: Elsevier Science
• Release date: Jun 12, 2022
• ISBN: 9780128236253

Book preview

Chapter One: Risk assessment in aquatic ecosystem: CO2 acidification generalities

Tomas Angel DelValls Casillasa; Inmaculada Ribab    a Department of Ecotoxicology, Santa Cecília University (UNISANTA), Santos, São Paulo, Brazil

b Faculty of Marine and Environmental Sciences, University of Cádiz, Cádiz, Spain

Abstract

This chapter includes a general overview and description of the structure and the objectives of the book and defines and describes the scope of the book. It includes some references to researchers that have contributed to the advance of the CO2 acidification sciences such as Dr. Chapman, Dr. Arrenhius, and Aristotle. This is not a book describing ocean acidification or showing the potential adverse effects of ocean acidification. Therefore, this chapter will focus on the justification of the main aim of the book in going beyond ocean acidification and including new information and different descriptions on issues other than ocean acidification.

Keywords

Aristotle; Arrhenius; Chapman; CO2 acidification; Weight of evidence; Cenotes; Illicit drugs; Legal and economical consequences; Plasticity; Global change

Challenge

This chapter includes a general overview and description of the structure and the objectives of the book and defines and describes the scope of the book. This is not a book describing ocean acidification or showing the potential adverse effects of ocean acidification. Therefore, this chapter will focus on the justification of the main aim of the book in going beyond ocean acidification and including new information and different descriptions on issues other than ocean acidification.

Inspiration and general overview

The main aim of this book is not the description of ocean acidification processes, nor the description or discussion of the set of data related to it, or the effects associated with this process. The material included in this book has two main objectives:

1.Characterization and description of the main adverse biological effects provoked in different aquatic ecosystems, not only the ocean, by CO2 acidification and enrichment produced by anthropogenic or natural sources of this compound, using integrated methods and approaches to better understand the link between the cause (contamination) and the effect (toxicity) to quantify and manage the pollution associated with it.

2.Explanation and characterization of specific case studies and description of the behavior of new contaminants associated with the increase of CO2 in aquatic ecosystems, including emerging contaminants such as illicit drugs, or significant and singular ecosystems like the fresh water labyrinth cenotes at Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico.

The book focuses on the use of different approaches, methods, etc., intended to obtain multiple lines of evidence (LoE) to identify the cause and the associated biological adverse effects of CO2 enrichment scenarios, either natural or anthropogenic. These lines of evidence will be integrated using a weight of evidence (WoE) approach. The book also includes new, emerging topics related, for instance, to the behavior and effects of new contaminants such as illicit drugs when affected by CO2 acidification in aquatic ecosystems, the description of the mechanisms to adapt to the new physicochemical conditions in environments affected by this enrichment, or the description of singular ecosystems and the prediction of the effects related to CO2 acidification within them.

This book is inspired by previous interdisciplinary researchers, some of whom are mentioned during the different chapters and others we are sure to have missed, so we apologize in advance for not acknowledging them in this book. Reading their contributions to the field and, in some cases, the privilege of meeting them, has improved our initial enthusiasm, based on their good science, but even more so on their original approaches that always focused on the use of integrated and interdisciplinary science to address complex processes like contamination, pollution, ecotoxicology, global change, etc. From our point of view, a correct understanding of their contributions is the only possible way to understand properly the natural processes that are the topic of this book, CO2 acidification in aquatic ecosystems: An integrated approach to risk assessment.

From Aristotle to our recently deceased and missed Peter M. Chapman, they have addressed environmental problems methods, approaches, and concepts based on an interdisciplinary point of view. We have based our description, assessments, and studies here reported on the main approaches followed by certain scientists; we have summarized three of them below:

(1)Aristotle. Considered in the Western world the father of the biology because his studies of this discipline where systematic and were recorded. Despite being a student of Plato, Aristotle has been considered more scientific, more realistic, and more empiric than his teacher. In this book, Aristotle is mentioned in some chapters regarding his first contribution to ecotoxicity and toxicity tests. He, probably, was the first researcher to conduct an ecotoxicological test in aquatic ecosystems, by using Chironomids, as mentioned in this book:

More than 2000 years ago, Aristotle used freshwater animals to conduct the first aquatic bioassays by exposing them to seawater, probably oligochaetes or chironomids, the bloodworms ... The observation carried out by Aristotle could answer the question: How does this change affect these organisms? In doing so, he conducted, probably one of the first aquatic experimental toxicity tests.

(2)Arrhenius. Probably the first scientist that integrated physics and chemistry, becoming the first physicochemist in human history. At the beginning, his theories and he needed to survive the criticisms of physicists and chemists. He pointed out during his Nobel Prize speech:

These new theories have suffered the misfortune that no one really knew where to place them. Chemists did not recognize them within chemistry, nor did physicists within physics. In fact, they have built a bridge between both disciplines.

By enunciating his electrochemical theory, Arrhenius had inaugurated a new field of investigation: physicochemistry, in which phenomena of both types overlapped. This interdisciplinary approach was the reason Arrhenius advanced in different fields—all of them complex—during his scientific career, like the Global Change considered (partially) in this book. Some of his works anticipated the influence of human activity on climate change. Many of these theories, discoveries, and predictions—for which he also became recognized long after his death—were highly controversial in their day.

For example, he predicted in his article in 1896 that a doubling of CO2 due to fossil fuel burning alone would take 500 years and lead to temperature increases of 3–4°C (about 5–7°F). This is probably what has earned Arrhenius his present reputation as the first to provide a model for the effect of industrial activity on global warming. Arrhenius commented in his paper that it meant, among other things, that Scandinavia would enjoy a more benign and pleasant climate. In addition, the article also identified human industrial activity as the main source of entry of new CO2 into the atmosphere. However, he estimated that this concentration of CO2 would take about 3000 years to reach. A forecast that was very moderate and optimistic taking into account the data reported in recent years.

Arrhenius warned of climate change almost a century before the world decided to fight against it. Despite all its implications, his study passed virtually unnoticed until the 1970s, when the greenhouse effect began to emerge as a real and imminent concern, and the Swede’s work came to be valued at its true worth.

He was also a pioneer in other disciplines such as geology, astronomy, cosmology, astrophysics, etc. Furthermore, he was the first to talk about immunochemistry, in 1907, to describe the study of the theory of toxins and antitoxins. He thought of the idea of a universal language, proposing a modification of the English language. Most of his contributions only achieved notoriety many decades later and ended up confirming Arrhenius as much more than a great physicochemist: he was a visionary of science.

(3)Peter Michael Chapman, who will always be our beloved Peter, passed away recently, in September 2017. As the eminent scientist J.P. Giesy mentioned in 2018, he left us far too early. He focused during his career on environmental sciences, questioning the status quo, proposing unique solutions, and expanding the field of this discipline, as J.P. Giesy said, and we absolutely agree.

Peter was the creator of the weight of evidence (WoE) concept that was developed during the last decades of the 20th century and, until his death, he made great contributions in the fields of ecological risk assessment and benthic ecology. Peter’s WoE concept begins with the proposal of integrated methods using interdisciplinary instead of multidisciplinary approaches by actively integrating the different scientific discipline data, such as chemistry, toxicology, and ecology. For example, in his joint contribution with Dr. Ed Long, Peter proposed and executed the sediment quality triad. Later, he improved and modified the WOE concept, always integrating new approaches and new disciplines and solving new environmental problems.

In this sense, he always discussed and commented with most of the authors of this book about the potential and effective impact of climate change on ecosystems. During his last visit to Cádiz, Spain, in 2016 and 2017, he intensively discussed the issues tackled in this book related to the CO2 acidification impact in aquatic ecosystems and how to improve the application of the WoE to assess it, but also to propose remediation and mitigation techniques. It is a pity that he cannot joint us in this book initiative, as mentioned, intensively discussed with him, because we are sure that it would have gained a great deal in excellence and quality from his contribution. In any case, we felt that he has been with most of us during the preparation of this book.

Thanks Peter, we feel that you are always with us. This book is dedicated to you.

Book structure

The book is composed of 14 chapters and more than 10 different authors and coauthors have contributed. A schematic description of the book structure and its flow diagram is shown in Fig. 1. The book starts with a general description of the scope of the topics covered, clarifying that it is not a book focused on ocean acidification. This also includes a description of the interdisciplinary characteristics of the book by means of remembering some significant researchers in the area of environmental sciences and interdisciplinary approaches, such as Aristotle, Arrhenius, and Chapman.

Fig. 1

Fig. 1 Schematic description of the book structure summarizing the book chapters and their objectives.

Chapter 2 describes the main sources of CO2 enrichment in aquatic ecosystems, including both natural and anthropogenic origins of this compound. In addition, some considerations are described related to potential initiatives for the mitigation of the increase of CO2 across the planet, like carbon capture and storage (CCS) in marine environments.

Chapters 3–7 include an in-depth description of the risk assessment approaches used in recent years, based on the weight of evidence (WOE) concept, to characterize the pollution provoked by CO2 acidification in aquatic ecosystems. The main lines of evidence are discussed showing the modification of their methods to address the adverse effects related to CO2 acidification, discriminating between the contamination related to the increase of proton concentration and that associated with the changes in the physicochemical equilibrium associated with CO2 acidification. It describes all the processes and results, from the identification of the cause to evaluation of the biological adverse effects, including: contamination, toxicity, ecological integration, etc. In the later chapters, different methods to link causes and effects are discussed, showing the first results published related to the application of a WOE approach to characterizing pollution and identifying the quality values associated with it, and those related to CO2 acidification.

Chapter 8 summarizes the main legal and economic aspects related to CO2 acidification in aquatic ecosystems, including the international conventions and approaches that have been considered in recent years and discussing specific case studies in particular countries and areas of the world. The legal, economic, and socioeconomic aspects related to mitigation efforts like carbon capture and storage (CCS) are also discussed.

From Chapter 9 to Chapter 12, it is included a description of the adverse effects related to CO2 acidification in different singular ecosystems (fresh water, Chapters 11 and 12), the influence of contamination and its effects related to new substances like illicit drugs (Chapter 9), and the mechanisms available to adapt to CO2 acidification, like plasticity (Chapter 10). Finally, Chapter 12 describes a singular ecosystem—the labyrinth of fresh water cenotes in the Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico—and the consequences of CO2 acidification in this significant reserve of fresh water in the world.

Finally, it has been included two chapters related to a couple of main issues that in the last months have had a direct relationship with anthropogenic activities and CO2 acidification in aquatic ecosystems. In Chapter 13, there is included a review of the influence of the pandemic situation suffered all over the world from the end of 2019 till today. It is discussed and commented the influence of virus and other microorganisms in the CO2 acidification effects and risk assessment in aquatic ecosystems. In Chapter 14, a general description of the potential capacity of industrial sector to capture, storage and re-use of emitted CO2 is discussed, as well as its influence in the total emissions of this GHG. Last part of the chapter is dedicated by one of the editors to a fun description of the potential influence of the carbonated beverages production and consumption in the CO2 acidification situation under a nominated Gin and Tonic approach.

The editors would like to thank all the contributors that have participated in this book, supporting our original ideas and making an effort to match and improve them. Thanks to their contribution, the final version of the book has been significantly improved, and shows an integrative approach to advances in risk assessment in aquatic ecosystems related to an issue as important as CO2 acidification and its effects.

Chapter Two: Sources of CO2 acidification in aquatic ecosystems, natural versus anthropogenic

Tomas Angel DelValls Casillasa; Estefanía Bonnailb; Inmaculada Ribac    a Department of Ecotoxicology, Santa Cecília University (UNISANTA), Santos, São Paulo, Brazil

b Centro de Investigaciones Costeras-Universidad de Atacama (CIC-UDA), Copiapó, Chile

c Faculty of Marine and Environmental Sciences, University of Cádiz, Cádiz, Spain

Abstract

To review and describe the potential sources of CO2 enrichment in aquatic ecosystems, identifying and distinguishing those from natural and anthropogenic activities. It will be described and characterized the different sources of CO2 that produce enrichment of this compound in the aquatic ecosystem. It will not only focus on the dissolution of the atmospheric CO2 but also on other anthropogenic sources like the leakages during carbon capture and storage operation (CCS) and natural sources (diagenesis – organic matter oxidation, volcanic emissions, etc.).

Keywords

Ocean acidification; Proton concentrations; Volcanoes; Submarine; Black and white vents; Carbonic acid species; Organic matter diagenesis; Carbon capture and storage; International conventions

The challenge: To review and describe the potential sources of enrichment of CO2 in aquatic ecosystems, identifying those from natural and anthropogenic activities. The different sources of CO2 that produce enrichment of this compound is described and characterized. It will not only focus on the dissolution of the atmospheric CO2 but also on other anthropogenic sources like the leakages during carbon capture and storage operation (CCS) and natural sources (diagenesis—organic matter oxidation, volcanic emissions, etc.).

Anthropogenic sources of CO2 enrichment in aquatic ecosystems

Increase of CO2 in the atmosphere: Climate change and ocean acidification

Since our ancestors inhabits the planet, we can talk about the processes of contamination and pollution. Understanding contamination as the process associated with an increase in the level of energies or substances related to human activity. However, the concept of pollution includes the adverse biological effects associated with this increase in anthropogenic contaminant energies or substances.

For many years and before the period of the industrial revolution, primitive industry was not considered as an important factor of environmental deterioration. The search for alternatives that would accelerate growth and economic development led to environmental deterioration. It is at the beginning of the 18th century when the industrial revolution marks the beginning of the processes of contamination and pollution related to CO2 enrichment, causing acceleration in climate change from the CO2 emissions produced by the human activity.

Arrhenius, Nobel Prize winner for his contribution to the advancement of chemistry by his electrolytic theory of dissociation in 1903, pointed out the existence of changes in the carbon cycle was already looming since the carbon that was being deposited on the planet for centuries was being returned in very short periods of time because of the combustion in the industrial processes by human activity (Arrhenius, 1896). Arrhenius warned of the risks of the growing CO2 emissions by man and the consequent climate change, almost a century after the world decided to fight against the global warming. However, his forecasts were unfortunately optimistic and rather moderated because of his estimation that the nowadays concentrations of CO2 only could be reached in the 30th century. In any case, Arrhenius work and data were forgotten and not taken into account till the end of the last 20th century.

It was not until 1958 that Dr. Keeling (Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UCSD) graphically demonstrated the changes in carbon dioxide concentrations (Keeling, 1960). In the Keeling curves based on continuous CO2 measurements carried out at a station located on Mauna Loa (Hawaii) from 1958 to 2000, it was observed that carbon dioxide concentrations increased exponentially over time, as well as a seasonal variation in carbon cycles due to the processes of photosynthesis and respiration. The maximum values reached were 280 ppm in 2000, reaching values of up to 391 ppm in 2011 (IPCC, 2013). In April 2013, the levels reached exceeded 400 ppm. Currently, the values registered in July 2016 have been up to 404.39 ppm (IPCC, 2014), and at the end of 2021 has maintained values higher than 415 ppm. According to this report, despite growing mitigation policies, greenhouse gas emissions have increased an average of 1.0 gigaton of CO2 equivalent (GtCO2eq) per year in the last decade compared to 0.4 GtCO2eq per year since 1970 until 2000 and increasing (Fig.