Bohr effect

The Bohr effect is an adaption in animals to reduce the affinity of hemoglobin for oxygen as a response to an increase in blood carbon dioxide levels and a decrease in pH.

It was first described by the Danish physiologist Christian Bohr in 1904.

The dissociation curve shifts to the right when carbon dioxide concentration is increased, simply meaning that higher oxygen partial pressure is required for the same degree of saturation of hemoglobin.