page_title: Bohr effect
section_title: Special cases
hierarchical_section_title: Bohr effect / Special cases
caption_attribution_description: English: Humpback Whale (Megaptera novaeangliae)
context_page_description: The Bohr effect is a physiological phenomenon first described in 1904 by the Danish physiologist Christian Bohr. Hemoglobin's oxygen binding affinity is inversely related both to acidity and to the concentration of carbon dioxide. That is, the Bohr effect refers to the shift in the oxygen dissociation curve caused by changes in the concentration of carbon dioxide or the pH of the environment. Since carbon dioxide reacts with water to form carbonic acid, an increase in CO₂ results in a decrease in blood pH, resulting in hemoglobin proteins releasing their load of oxygen. Conversely, a decrease in carbon dioxide provokes an increase in pH, which results in hemoglobin picking up more oxygen.
caption: Though they are one of the largest animals on the planet, humpback whales have a Bohr effect magnitude similar to that of a guinea pig.
exif: {"Image Make": "Canon", "Image Model": "Canon EOS D30", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "72", "Image YResolution": "72", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Adobe Photoshop CS2 Windows", "Image DateTime": "2007:12:21 09:33:19", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Centered", "Image ExifOffset": "220", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "1094", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "6449", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/1000", "EXIF FNumber": "8", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "400", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0210", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2002:03:24 13:29:04", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2002:03:24 13:29:04", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF CompressedBitsPerPixel": "3", "EXIF ShutterSpeedValue": "326559/32768", "EXIF ApertureValue": "6", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "4", "EXIF SubjectDistance": "54/5", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Partial", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire", "EXIF FocalLength": "300", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "2160", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "1440", "Interoperability InteroperabilityIndex": "R98", "Interoperability InteroperabilityVersion": "[48, 49, 48, 48]", "Interoperability RelatedImageWidth": "2160", "Interoperability RelatedImageLength": "1440", "EXIF InteroperabilityOffset": "944", "EXIF FocalPlaneXResolution": "540000/223", "EXIF FocalPlaneYResolution": "288000/119", "EXIF FocalPlaneResolutionUnit": "2", "EXIF SensingMethod": "One-chip color area", "EXIF FileSource": "Digital Camera"}