What is the effect of $"CO"_2$ on pH?

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Any help is much, much appreciated.

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Answer 1 · 2018-03-22T04:48:13

Does it not decrease $"pH"$ from the equilibrium value....?

Carbon dioxide is an acidic oxide, for which the following equilibrium operates....

$CO_2(aq) + H_2O(l) rightleftharpoons HCO_3^(-) + H_3O^+$

And water saturated by carbon dioxide should have $"pH"$ REDUCED from $7$ on the basis of this equilibrium, and enhanced concentrations of $H_3O^+$ .

For coral reefs around the globe, this is not good news...