Much of the carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from fossil fuel burning is absorbed by the oceans. It is elevating ocean acidity threatening many species, especially those like corals, which use calcium carbonate to make their shells or skeletons. A study published in the March 9, 2007, Geophysical Research Letters looks at how both increases in CO2 concentrations and increases in temperatures from climate change could affect ocean acidity. It found that regardless of global warming from carbon dioxide, the greenhouse gas is still a threat to life in the world’s oceans.
Carnegie Institution, 8 March 2007. Press release.
