The ocean absorbs about 30 percent of the excess carbon dioxide produced by humans. As a result, the chemical composition of the ocean water is changing, making it increasingly acidic.
This silent killer called ‘Ocean Acidification’ is causing coral reefs and shellfish around the world to face an extreme existential crisis.
Research and Damage to Marine Ecosystems:
Shell Melting: Seashells, snails, and small crabs make their shells out of calcium carbonate. Due to the increase in ocean acidity, their shells are naturally melting and the production of new shells is being hampered.
Impact on the Food Chain: These small shelled animals are the base of the marine food chain. If they die, larger fish, whales, and seabirds will face a food crisis, which will collapse the entire marine economy.
The increase in ocean acidity is one of the world’s biggest environmental disasters. Unless fossil fuel use is reduced to zero, the oceans of the future will literally become lifeless reservoirs of acid.
