How is ocean acidification changing marine life?
The ocean has absorbed so much CO2 that its chemistry is changing faster than at any point in the last 300 million years.
The answer
Since the Industrial Revolution, oceans have absorbed approximately 30% of human-produced CO2, causing surface water pH to drop by 0.1 units - a 26% increase in acidity. By 2100, pH could decline by another 0.3 to 0.4 units under high-emission scenarios. This dissolves calcium carbonate structures vital to corals, mollusks, and planktonic pteropods. A 2020 NOAA study found that Dungeness crab larvae off the US Pacific coast already showed shell dissolution from acidification. Coral reef growth rates have declined 40% since preindustrial times. The rate of acidification is approximately ten times faster than any natural event in the past 300 million years, leaving many organisms insufficient time to adapt genetically.
Source: NOAA
- ocean acidification
- climate change
- marine chemistry
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