Mankind is changing the chemistry of the oceans and may be
the decline of sea life. Experts say the ocean is more
now than it has been at any time in the
half-million years.
Carbon
is an acidic gas and scientists say as it
into the sea it's making seawater more acidic. They
that ocean acidity is up 30% since the Industrial Revolution. A new
shows the growth of some tiny shell forming creatures
already to have been stunted by the change.
of this new branch of science
that as CO2 emissions continue to
, many shell forming species may not survive the next 50 - 100 years. This would hit commercial fisheries and start to unpick the very web of life in the seas.
Dr Carol Turley, who is running
acidification debate in Copenhagen,
a mass extinction: ''55 million years ago there was a big production of CO2. That
in the mass extinction of seabed dwelling shell forming organisms. What we’re doing now is far, far faster, so it may not be possible for organisms to adapt.''
Sceptics say we can't be sure how ocean chemistry will
in the future and whether creatures will adapt. The scientists in Denmark say we simply shouldn’t take the
.
Roger Harrabin, BBC News
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