As illustrated by the diagram on the right, additional carbon dioxide () is absorbed by the ocean and reacts with water, carbonic acid () is formed and broken down into both bicarbonate () and hydrogen () ions (gray arrow), which reduces bioavailable carbonate () and decreases ocean pH (black arrow). This is likely to enhance nitrogen fixation by diazotrophs (gray arrow), which utilize  ions to convert nitrogen into bioavailable forms such as ammonia () and ammonium ions (). However, as pH decreases, and more ammonia is converted to ammonium ions (gray arrow), there is less oxidation of ammonia to nitrite (NO), resulting in an overall decrease in nitrification and denitrification (black arrows). This in turn would lead to a further build-up of fixed nitrogen in the ocean, with the potential consequence of eutrophication. Gray arrows represent an increase while black arrows represent a decrease in the associated process.