Ocean acidification is a biologically consequential process driven by the uptake of anthropogenic carbon dioxide (CO₂) by seawater, which lowers pH and alters carbonate chemistry, thereby affecting marine organisms and ecosystems. Increased dissolved CO₂ forms carbonic acid, shifting equilibria among CO₂, bicarbonate (HCO₃⁻), and carbonate ions (CO₃²⁻), reducing carbonate availability needed for biogenic calcification in corals, mollusks, echinoderms, and some plankton. This can impair shell and skeleton formation, disrupt acid–base regulation, metabolism, sensory functions, and reproductive success in diverse taxa, and modify species interactions, community structure, and biogeochemical cycles, including primary production and trophic dynamics.
Earth's ocean, the planet's life-support system, is experiencing rapid and widespread transformations that extend far below its surface. A promising international study published in Nature Climate Change reveals that vast ...
Earth Sciences
Nov 25, 2025
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129
The consequences of a warming climate are known to be dangerous for marine ecosystems, with environmental changes like ocean acidification and warming, disrupted nutrient supplies, and rising sea levels. For mollusks, important ...
Plants & Animals
Oct 28, 2025
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20
Most coral reefs will soon stop growing and may begin to erode—and almost all will do so if global warming hits 2°C, according to a new study in the western Atlantic. An international team, led by scientists from the University ...
Plants & Animals
Sep 17, 2025
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36
Sharks can famously replace their teeth, with new ones always growing as they're using up the current set. As sharks rely on their teeth to catch prey, this is vital to the survival of one of the oceans' top predators.
Plants & Animals
Aug 27, 2025
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62
A research team from the Institut de Ciències del Mar (ICM-CSIC) has published a study in Communications Biology showing how ocean acidification and warming—two of the main consequences of global climate change—can simultaneously ...
Ecology
Aug 12, 2025
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31
The world's oceans are being rapidly transformed as climate change intensifies. Corals are bleaching, sea levels are rising, and seawater is becoming more acidic—making life difficult for shellfish and reef-building corals. ...
Environment
Aug 1, 2025
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25
