Science & Nature

The Ocean's Silent Acid Bath

How Carbon Dioxide Is Dissolving the Foundation of Marine Life

Marina Costa

Chemical oceanographer at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, studying the impacts of ocean acidification on marine ecosystems.

March 14, 2026·9 min read

The Ocean's Silent Acid Bath

Since the Industrial Revolution, the world's oceans have absorbed roughly a third of all human carbon dioxide emissions. The chemical consequence — ocean acidification — is transforming marine chemistry at a rate not seen in at least 300 million years, threatening the calcified shells and skeletons that underpin entire ecosystems.

TOPICS

ocean acidificationclimate changemarine biologycoral reefs

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