In addition to the effect that global warming has on climates, it has also begun to affect the oceans in a just as dangerous way. According to a report called Impacts of Ocean Acidification on Coral Reefs and Other Marine Calcifiers: A Guide to Future Research, there is “very clear evidence” that a variety of ocean organisms, from coral to sea snails to plankton, face an uncertain future due to ocean water made increasingly corrosive by the industrial emissions that also fuel global warming.
Over the past 3 decades, scientists have seen a steady increase in the absorbtion of greenhouse gases into the ocean. Caron dioxide, one of these greenhouse gases, produces carbonic acid in seawater. Usually, calcium found in the seawater buffers the effect of this acid, but the added impact from industrial emissions has overwhelmed the balance.
The overall pH of ocean water has dropped from 8.2 to 8.1 since 1800. Although this may seem like a very small change that took place over a long time period, the drop of .1 has made the water 30% more corrosive. In addition, scientists expect the pH to drop to 7.9 within the current century, making the water 150% more corrosive than it originally was.
This change in acidity will most affect sea creatures that rely on shells for protection, because increased acidity affects the calcium level in the seawater that the organisms depend on to build their shells. Also, coral reefs, which serve as a habitat for many ocean organisms, are being affected by this change. 
Coral reefs are made from the calcium-carbonate skeletons of microscopic sea creatures. The increasingly acidic waters slow the ability of sea creatures to secrete calcium carbonate, and at a high enough level will actually eat away at shells and coral.
In order to get a better grasp of how increasing acidity will affect individual organisms, the report lays out more in-depth experiments that can be conducted over the next 5 to 1o years. This includes tracking changes in the calcification of corals and shelled creatures, determining how seasonal and water temperature changes affect pH, and examining changes to ocean ecosystems with small numbers of shelled sea creatures.
Studies show that the ocean water has not been this acidic for at least 650,000 years. This means that today’s sea creatures have evolved for a great deal of time under current ocean conditions. Because of this it is likely that sea creatures will adapt poorly to the ocean’s changes that are only becoming more and more frequent.
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/science/2006-07-05-ocean-acidity_x.htm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/3571152.stm
Nice Rob, a very intelligent article and post. This is an issue many of us look over because it does not affect us directly. This is another issue that builds up over time, an action needs to be taken to slow down the process of higher acidity levels or even elimidate it. For it not only disturbs the processes of many species, which in turn would affect its entire ecosystem through the food web and trophic levels, but it also eats away and gradually destroys many of the ocean’s creatures and plants, and could eventually drive them to distinction.
Rob,
I think Ryan meant extinction instead of “distinction”.
ha yea my bad