Acidification

The ocean absorbs as much as one third of the CO2 emitted worldwide, which keeps us cooler but makes the ocean surface much more acidic. This has the effect of limiting calcium carbonate needed by coral, plankton, and other marine life that use it to build the skeletal frames and shells that protect them. Between 1751 and 1994 surface ocean pH is estimated to have decreased from approximately 8.179 to 8.104 (a change of −0.075–roughly 25%). Ocean acidification will eventually destroy much marine life if it increases at this rate.