Test: AP Environmental Science

1.

Which explanation is most accurate in describing the chemical and atmospheric processes involved in ocean acidification?

Sulfur produced from industrial manufacturing increases the sulfur concentration in the atmosphere, which results in sulfuric acid () entering the ocean by precipitation, resulting in a lowered pH.

Carbon dioxide is emitted by burning fossil fuels and is released into the atmosphere, increasing the atmospheric concentration of carbon. Being soluble in water,  is absorbed from the atmosphere into the ocean, where it reacts with water and carbonate () from coral reefs to form carbonic acid. 

Carbon dioxide is released in the atmosphere from the burning of fossil fuels, where it interacts with water vapor in the atmosphere to form carbonic acid, which enters the ocean by precipitation, lowering the pH.

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