One Idea to Mitigate the Effects of Burning Fossil Fuels

question 18

Multiple Choice

One idea to mitigate the effects of burning fossil fuels on atmospheric CO2 concentrations is to pipe liquid CO2 into the ocean at depths of 2,500 feet or greater. At the high pressures at such depths, CO2 is heavier than water. What potential effects might result from implementing such a scheme?

• A) increased photosynthetic carbon fixation because of the increased dissolved carbon dioxide in the deep water
• B) increased carbonate concentrations in the deep waters
• C) increased growth of corals from a change in the carbonate-bicarbonate equilibrium
• D) no effect because carbon dioxide is not soluble in water
• E) both increased acidity of the deep waters and changes in the growth of bottom-dwelling organisms with calcium carbonate shells

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Definitions:

Nucleophile

A chemical species that donates an electron pair to an electrophile to form a chemical bond.

Curved Arrow Formalism

A notation technique in chemistry representing the movement of electrons during reaction mechanisms.

Electron Pairs

Pairs of electrons occupying the same orbital but having opposite spins; important in bond formation and molecular structure.

Bronsted-Lowry Base

A substance that can accept a proton (H+) from another substance, according to the Bronsted-Lowry acid-base theory.