Scientists study effects of increasing ocean acidity on marine life

Nature : The acidity of seawater has climbed by 30% over the past 150 years, and some regions have already become corrosive enough to inhibit the growth of corals and other species for part of the year. Carbonic acid is produced when the oceans absorb carbon dioxide, which reacts with the water. Unless nations sharply curb their emissions, atmospheric CO ₂ is expected to at least double from its preindustrial concentration by sometime in the second half of this century. Countries are only now revving up the coordinated research programs needed to assess how marine ecosystems will react to the increasingly acidic waters. Quirin Schiermeier examines this problem in his Nature news story.