Oceans Expected To Become More Acidic Than They've Been In 14 Million Years.

Since we began burning fossil fuels and pumping carbon dioxide (CO2) into the atmosphere during the industrial revolution, the world's oceans have been acting like a massive sponge by absorbing up to half of this CO2. After taking up human-emitted CO2 for over 200 years, the oceans have become approximately 30% more acidic. And if current emissions rates persist, our oceans are on track to become more acidic than they have been in 14 million years.

The eastern shore of the Adriatic Sea in Split, Croatia.

The rising acidity of the oceans is especially threatening for sea life with structures made from calcium carbonate, such as shells. As ocean pH drops, carbonate becomes less readily available and causes these hard components to dissolve. Yet, it is in the fossilized calcium carbonate shells of tiny critters, called foraminifera, that Dr. Sindia Sosdian and colleagues were able to measure the acidity of prehistoric oceans.

Read the story by Priya Shukla from Forbes - “Oceans Expected To Become More Acidic Than They've Been In 14 Million Years.”