The ocean acidification could reach unprecedented levels: Study – AT SCHOOL



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Ocean acidification could reach unprecedented levels

Ocean acidification is expected to reach levels never seen during the last 14 million years, in a "business" scenario as usual "emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2).

Ocean acidification occurs when the CO2 of the atmosphere is absorbed by the seawater, resulting in more acidic water with a lower pH, according to researchers from Cardiff University in the United Kingdom. Marine life is very threatening, the shells of some animals already dissolving in the more acidic seawater

About a third of the CO2 released by the burning of coal, oil and gas dissolves in the oceans .

In the industrial era, the ocean absorbed about 525 billion tons of CO2, or about 22 million tons per day, according to the researchers.

In this study, researchers undertook to reconstruct the levels of ocean acidity and atmospheric CO2. They did it by studying the fossils of tiny marine creatures that once lived near the surface of the ocean, specifically using the chemistry of their shells to monitor the acidity of the water of the ocean. sea ​​in which creatures lived.

Based on this information, the researchers were able to put their new pH (acidity scale) and CO2.PTI levels recordings

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