Acidification Of Sea Hampers Reproduction Of Marine Species
Wednesday, August 6, 2008 - 11:28
in Earth & Climate
By absorbing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, and from the human use of fossil fuels, the world's seas function as a giant buffer for the Earth's life support system. The chemical balance of the sea has long been regarded as immovable. Today researchers know that the pH of the sea's surface water has gone down by 0.1, or 25 percent, just since the beginning of industrialization just over a century ago. This acidification process affects marine animal life.