"In its latest annual assessment, the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research said ocean acidity had crossed a critical threshold for marine life. This makes it the seventh of nine planetary boundaries to be transgressed, prompting scientists to call for a renewed global effort to curb fossil fuels, deforestation and other human-driven pressures that are tilting the Earth out of a habitable equilibrium."
"The 2025 Planetary Health Check noted that since the start of the industrial era, oceans' surface pH has fallen by about 0.1 units, a 30-40% increase in acidity, pushing marine ecosystems beyond safe limits. Cold-water corals, tropical coral reefs and Arctic marine life are especially at risk. This is primarily due to the human-caused climate crisis. When carbon dioxide from oil, coal and gas burning enters the sea, it forms carbonic acid."
Ocean acidity has increased substantially since the industrial era, with surface pH falling by about 0.1 units, equivalent to a 30-40% rise in acidity that pushes marine ecosystems beyond safe limits. Cold-water corals, tropical reefs, Arctic species and shell-forming organisms face acute risk as reduced calcium carbonate availability undermines coral, shell and skeleton formation. Impacts cascade up the food chain to salmon, whales and other predators, threatening human food security and coastal economies. Oceans cover 71% of Earth and act as major climate stabilizers; weakening their heat absorption and carbon drawdown capacity would exacerbate the climate crisis and demand rapid cuts to fossil fuels and deforestation.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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