A Mathematical Study on Rising Pressures of Carbon Emissions and Acidity in Aquatic Bodies

Abstract

Contamination of water bodies is one of the alarming concerns of today’s times calling for immediate attention and action. Accelerated industrialization and other human-driven activities have given way to abrupt spike in the carbon emissions. These carbon emissions are absorbed by the water bodies. As a resultant of this absorption, the carbon reacts with oxygen present in water, forming carbonic acid and causes the pH level of water to decrease, thus, causing water acidification. The acidity of water also increases due to discharge of wastes and pollutants into aquatic bodies. Also, the carbon induced global warming leads to an increase in the temperature of water which further leads to a decline in level of dissolved oxygen in aquatic bodies. Besides, these phenomena cause a rise in the growth of algal bloom, which depletes the dissolved oxygen concentration in water due to consumption of dissolved oxygen in algal decomposition process. To investigate these impacts of increasing acidity and rising carbon emissions on the aquatic populations, a non-linear mathematical model is proposed and analysed. Numerical simulations using MATLAB are performed in order to support the analytical results.