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Carbon dioxide emissions put sea life under threat from ‘acidic’ oceans

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A major study that has taken more than 250 scientists eight years to complete has concluded that carbon dioxide emissions from modern society are placing all sea life at risk by making the oceans more acidic.

The Biological Impacts of Ocean Acidification report, released by the German-led BIOACID Project, also said that changes through acidification – which is occurring because as CO2 from fossil fuels dissolves in seawater, it produces carbonic acid that lowers the pH of the water – will be made worse by climate change, pollution, over-fishing, coastal developments and agricultural fertilisers.

Since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, the average pH of global ocean surface waters have fallen from pH 8.2 to 8.1, which represents an increase in acidity of about 26 percent.

The research was conducted around the world, with scientists visiting areas as diverse as the North Sea, Baltic and Arctic to Papua New Guinea.

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Mark Evans
Mark Evans
Scuba Diver's Editorial Director Mark Evans has been in the diving industry for nearly 25 years, and has been diving since he was just 12 years old. nearly 40-odd years later and he is still addicted to the underwater world.
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