Global Dimming 3

So far, the Global Dimming blogs have been brought up quite a bit offline.
I enjoy knowing nothing about a subject and learning as I go (hence 'Learner' from my discover your strengths tests).

I need to learn more about photosythesis and what controls it:
A general equation for photosynthesis is:
6 CO2(gas) + 12 H2O(liquid) + photons → C6H12O6(aqueous) + 6 O2(gas) + 6 H2O(liquid)
carbon dioxide + water + light energy → glucose + oxygen + water

1. What impact does moisture, temperature, and light have on the reaction?
2. Most interesting and hard to learn about is how reversible is the reaction?

When the leaves fall, plants release CO2 back into the air. How efficient or inefficient is this? Converting the carbon into sugar seems like a good way to to get rid of it, but how does it re-release CO2 from the decomposition of the leaves? Does 100% go back into the air or 90%?

Another interesting affect that I found was Ocean Acidification.

Average surface oceanp pH
Pre-industrial (1700s) 8.179
Present-day (1994) 8.104
2050 (2×CO2 = 560 ppm) 7.949
2100 (IS92a)[3] 7.824

As we produce more CO2 and the ocean temperatures rise we will increase the solubility of CO2 in the ocean. This lowers the pH of the ocean.

"When CO2 dissolves, it reacts with water to form a balance of ionic and non-ionic chemical species : dissolved free carbon dioxide (CO2 (aq)), carbonic acid (H2CO3), bicarbonate (HCO3-) and carbonate (CO32-). The ratio of these species depends on factors such as seawater temperature and alkalinity."
- wikipedia


This is a plot (tanks wikipedia) of the change in CO3- concentration from 1700 to 1990.

What is interesting is if you look back at the Keeling Curves (CO2 plots). I ran some quick trendlines for the rate of CO2 increase at Hawaii and at the South Pole. The rate of CO2 increase at the South Pole is slightly less than that at Hawaii. This could be caused by the southern hemisphsere having more oceans than land (unlike the norther hemisphere) increasing CO2 absorption by the Ocean slightly decreasing the rate of CO2 increase in the south.

I'll post my plots at some point, they are currently on the Nursing School Laptop.