{"id":170184,"date":"2025-06-09T12:03:09","date_gmt":"2025-06-09T12:03:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/170184\/"},"modified":"2025-06-09T12:03:09","modified_gmt":"2025-06-09T12:03:09","slug":"ticking-timebomb-sea-acidity-has-reached-critical-levels-threatening-entire-ecosystems-study-ocean-acidification","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/170184\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Ticking timebomb\u2019: sea acidity has reached critical levels, threatening entire ecosystems \u2013 study | Ocean acidification"},"content":{"rendered":"

The world\u2019s oceans are in worse health than realised, scientists have said today, as they warn that a key measurement shows we are \u201crunning out of time\u201d to protect marine ecosystems.<\/p>\n

Ocean acidification, often called the \u201cevil twin\u201d of the climate crisis, is caused when carbon dioxide is rapidly absorbed by the ocean, where it reacts with water molecules leading to a fall in the pH level of the seawater. It damages coral reefs and other ocean habitats and, in extreme cases, can dissolve the shells of marine creatures.<\/p>\n

Until now, ocean acidification had not been deemed to have crossed its \u201cplanetary boundary\u201d. The planetary boundaries<\/a> are the natural limits of key global systems \u2013 such as climate, water and wildlife diversity \u2013 beyond which their ability to maintain a healthy planet is in danger of failing. Six of the nine had been crossed already, scientists said last year<\/a>.<\/p>\n

However, a new study<\/a> by the UK\u2019s Plymouth Marine Laboratory (PML), the Washington-based National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and Oregon State University\u2019s Co-operative Institute for Marine Resources Studies found that ocean acidification\u2019s \u201cboundary\u201d was also reached about five years ago.<\/p>\n

\u201cOcean acidification isn\u2019t just an environmental crisis \u2013 it\u2019s a ticking timebomb for marine ecosystems and coastal economies,\u201d said PML\u2019s Prof Steve Widdicombe, who is also co-chair of the Global Ocean Acidification Observing Network<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The study drew on new and historical physical and chemical measurements from ice cores, combined with advanced computer models and studies of marine life, which gave the scientists an overall assessment of the past 150 years.<\/p>\n

It found that by 2020 the average ocean condition worldwide was already very close to \u2013 and in some regions beyond \u2013 the planetary boundary for ocean acidification. This is defined as when the concentration of calcium carbonate in seawater is more than 20% below preindustrial levels.<\/p>\n

The deeper in the ocean they looked, the worse the findings were, the scientists said. At 200 metres below the surface, 60% of global waters had breached the \u201csafe\u201d limit for acidification.<\/p>\n

\u201cMost ocean life doesn\u2019t just live at the surface,\u201d said PML\u2019s Prof Helen Findlay. \u201cThe waters below are home to many more different types of plants and animals. Since these deeper waters are changing so much, the impacts of ocean acidification could be far worse than we thought.\u201d<\/p>\n

This had, she added, huge implications for important underwater ecosystems such as tropical and even deep-sea coral reefs that provided essential habitats and nursery grounds for the young of many species.<\/p>\n

As pH levels drop, calcifying species such as corals, oysters, mussels and tiny molluscs known as sea butterflies struggle to maintain their protective structures, leading to weaker shells, slower growth, reduced reproduction and decreased survival rates.<\/p>\n

The authors underlined that decreasing CO2 emissions was the only way to deal with acidification globally, but that conservation measures could and should focus on the regions and species that were most vulnerable.<\/p>\n

Jessie Turner, director of the International Alliance to Combat Ocean Acidification, who was not involved in the study, said: \u201cThis report makes it clear: we are running out of time and what we do \u2013 or fail to do \u2013 now is already determining our future.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are coming to terms with an existential threat while grappling with the difficult reality that much suitable habitat for key species has already been lost. It\u2019s clear that governments can no longer afford to overlook acidification in mainstream policy agendas,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The world\u2019s oceans are in worse health than realised, scientists have said today, as they warn that a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":170185,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3843],"tags":[728,70,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-170184","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-environment","8":"tag-environment","9":"tag-science","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114653312102766751","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/170184","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=170184"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/170184\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/170185"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=170184"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=170184"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=170184"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}