Acidic ‘champagne sea’ nothing to celebrate for corals

Lush, grassy, and populated by invasive algae and molluscs with paper-thin shells – that is what the acidic oceans of the future could look like.
An exploration of natural “bubble streams” of carbon dioxide in shallow Mediterranean waters off the coast of Italy is the first to document the effects of ocean acidification in a real ocean setting. The notion that the oceans will become more acidic as CO2 concentrations rise is well understood. By the year 2100, ocean acidity is predicted to be 7.8 pH, compared to 8.2 pH in 1900.

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