Final answer:
A drop in blood pH, primarily due to an increase in carbon dioxide levels, leads to a decrease in hemoglobin's affinity for oxygen and an increase in oxygen release to the tissues. This physiological response is known as the Bohr effect.
Step-by-step explanation:
The factor that would induce the loss of oxygen from hemoglobin and the blood is a drop in blood pH. This is due to the Bohr effect, which describes how blood pH influences hemoglobin's affinity for oxygen. A lower, more acidic blood pH promotes oxygen dissociation from hemoglobin. This happens when carbon dioxide levels in the blood rise, reacting with water to form bicarbonate and hydrogen ions, which leads to a decrease in pH and subsequently reduces hemoglobin's affinity for oxygen, causing it to release its oxygen.
When the level of carbon dioxide in the blood increases during processes like exercise or due to certain pathologies, it causes a rightward shift in the oxygen dissociation curve. Therefore, as the pH drops, hemoglobin releases oxygen to meet the metabolic demands of tissues.
Factors like increased body temperature and certain diseases, such as sickle cell anemia and thalassemia, also affect oxygen delivery by altering hemoglobin's ability to release or carry oxygen. An increase in body temperature, similar to an increase in carbon dioxide levels, diminishes hemoglobin's ability to hold on to oxygen, aiding in oxygen delivery to active tissues.