Ocean acidification increases, another climate change effect

Climatic change and its effects are an environmental problem that is concerning more people. One of the recent changes is that the acidity of the oceans is increasing at a faster rate than was expected by climatic change models and could have grave consequences for marine life. According to the Marine Climate Change Partnership’s recent report, ocean acidity, caused by an increase in the quantity of CO2 in the ocean, has increased 30 percent in the last 200 years. This carries serious consequences for the marine ecosystem and for the climate. The ocean absorbs the CO2 that’s in the atmosphere, but since the emissions have increased with time, the ocean has turned more acidic, which means that it will not only absorb less CO2 in the future but that the corals, plankton, shellfish and other essential links in the food chain will be threatened. In fact, climate change has already caused changes in the plankton, the distribution of fish, and the composition of the species in the oceans around the United Kingdom. A British research program centered on the Northeast Atlantic, Antarctic, and Arctic will study the consequences of acidification on biodiversity, the habitats, the species and general socio-economic consequences. The five-year project costing 11 million GBP will be financed by Rural Affairs (DEFRA) together with the Natural Environment Research Council of the UK.