What is ocean acidification?

2014

Caribbean Coastal Ocean Observing System (CariCOOS)

"Rising levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2), a major "greenhouse" gas and driven primarily through increased fossil fuel emissions and changes in land use, produce changes in ocean chemistry that may affect marine life globally. As forests, the oceans have the capacity to absorb CO2, currently taking up about one ton of anthropogenic CO2 per year for each person on the planet. Since the Industrial Revolution oceans have absorbed about 50% of total CO2 released to the atmosphere from human activities. When the CO2 from the atmosphere dissolves in the ocean it reacts with seawater to produce carbonic acid. The carbonic acid decreases the pH, hence the term acidification.?"

National Coral Reef Monitoring Plan (NCRMP); climatic monitoring

FY2014 CRCP Project ID 743; Project Title: National Coral Reef Monitoring Plan (NCRMP) Implementation (Climatic Monitoring); Principal Investigator: Jessica Morgan